This has become one of the leading theories to explain the drones in the USA
They are American, and military, and they are trying to detect something on the ground, and it is potentially a nuclear warhead/dirty bomb: that explains why they fly at night, and why the White House is in this weird half-denial mode
Ergo, American (hence the flashing lights - to warn others). But maybe commercially sourced, giving the Pentagon plausible deniability. And the idea they are looking for something nasty (why else fly at night?) is pretty good - that's why the White House double-speaks, they don't want to frit the folk
It’s an idea that appeals to you because it’s exciting. It’s also just nonsense. It’s a flap. Who knows how or why it started but once it starts it will run and run. Seriously - if you are interested in how these things work, read In Alien Heat about Warminster. It’s exactly the same.
Oh sweet Jesus Christ, shut the fuck up about "Warminster"
Why? Read up and educate yourself for fucks sake.
Has it occurred to you that I already know and understand the mass psychology of "flaps"?
This is not some exciting revelation. Crowds get hysterical. Ugandan men suddenly think their penises are being stolen. Girls in school start fainting due to a "gas leak". Nuns in France start masturbating frantically in public. Entire nations go into "lockdown" over a flu. Yes yes
You are the resident expert when it comes to flaps.
This has become one of the leading theories to explain the drones in the USA
They are American, and military, and they are trying to detect something on the ground, and it is potentially a nuclear warhead/dirty bomb: that explains why they fly at night, and why the White House is in this weird half-denial mode
Ergo, American (hence the flashing lights - to warn others). But maybe commercially sourced, giving the Pentagon plausible deniability. And the idea they are looking for something nasty (why else fly at night?) is pretty good - that's why the White House double-speaks, they don't want to frit the folk
It’s an idea that appeals to you because it’s exciting. It’s also just nonsense. It’s a flap. Who knows how or why it started but once it starts it will run and run. Seriously - if you are interested in how these things work, read In Alien Heat about Warminster. It’s exactly the same.
Oh sweet Jesus Christ, shut the fuck up about "Warminster"
Why? Read up and educate yourself for fucks sake.
Has it occurred to you that I already know and understand the mass psychology of "flaps"?
This is not some exciting revelation. Crowds get hysterical. Ugandan men suddenly think their penises are being stolen. Girls in school start fainting due to a "gas leak". Nuns in France start masturbating frantically in public. Entire nations go into "lockdown" over a flu. Yes yes
So why, then, do you not see that this is exactly what is happening?
Because, while there is clear evidence that some of this is definitely flap-esque, there is also contrary evidence - videos, photos, journalists, credible witnesses, strange statements from the WH - that points to this being more than a flap
This has become one of the leading theories to explain the drones in the USA
They are American, and military, and they are trying to detect something on the ground, and it is potentially a nuclear warhead/dirty bomb: that explains why they fly at night, and why the White House is in this weird half-denial mode
Ergo, American (hence the flashing lights - to warn others). But maybe commercially sourced, giving the Pentagon plausible deniability. And the idea they are looking for something nasty (why else fly at night?) is pretty good - that's why the White House double-speaks, they don't want to frit the folk
It’s an idea that appeals to you because it’s exciting. It’s also just nonsense. It’s a flap. Who knows how or why it started but once it starts it will run and run. Seriously - if you are interested in how these things work, read In Alien Heat about Warminster. It’s exactly the same.
Oh sweet Jesus Christ, shut the fuck up about "Warminster"
Why? Read up and educate yourself for fucks sake.
Has it occurred to you that I already know and understand the mass psychology of "flaps"?
This is not some exciting revelation. Crowds get hysterical. Ugandan men suddenly think their penises are being stolen. Girls in school start fainting due to a "gas leak". Nuns in France start masturbating frantically in public. Entire nations go into "lockdown" over a flu. Yes yes
Trust me without furlough lockdown would have been over in 3 weeks. Another triumph for Rishi.
This has become one of the leading theories to explain the drones in the USA
They are American, and military, and they are trying to detect something on the ground, and it is potentially a nuclear warhead/dirty bomb: that explains why they fly at night, and why the White House is in this weird half-denial mode
Ergo, American (hence the flashing lights - to warn others). But maybe commercially sourced, giving the Pentagon plausible deniability. And the idea they are looking for something nasty (why else fly at night?) is pretty good - that's why the White House double-speaks, they don't want to frit the folk
It’s an idea that appeals to you because it’s exciting. It’s also just nonsense. It’s a flap. Who knows how or why it started but once it starts it will run and run. Seriously - if you are interested in how these things work, read In Alien Heat about Warminster. It’s exactly the same.
Oh sweet Jesus Christ, shut the fuck up about "Warminster"
Why? Read up and educate yourself for fucks sake.
Has it occurred to you that I already know and understand the mass psychology of "flaps"?
This is not some exciting revelation. Crowds get hysterical. Ugandan men suddenly think their penises are being stolen. Girls in school start fainting due to a "gas leak". Nuns in France start masturbating frantically in public. Entire nations go into "lockdown" over a flu. Yes yes
So why, then, do you not see that this is exactly what is happening?
Because, while there is clear evidence that some of this is definitely flap-esque, there is also contrary evidence - videos, photos, journalists, credible witnesses, strange statements from the WH - that points to this being more than a flap
Credible witnesses and journalist such as the one you posted yesterday who clearly observed and filmed a plane but reported it as drones? Those credible witnesses and journalists?
Just spent a few days in Seville. What a fab place. Reminds me of Arles in France. A great student vibe. Cheap cafes bars and restaurants. If I was a British student I'd be livid with those crusty old Brexiteers who voted leave and meant British students couldn't enjoy the university towns other Europeans could while having a lot of fun with some very attractive people and even picking up a language.
My granddaughter has just enjoyed 12 months at Turin University on her Italian languages and culture course along with other fellow Leeds University students
Sadly i was on holiday in the canaries a couple of weeks ago. Bars that used to be packed out are now dead and some are closing. There is trouble throughout the west.
Interesting and troubling. Do you know why?
Global tourism is actually enjoying something of a boom, at the moment, with many places reporting record visitors - even higher than 2019
So I'm not sure what is happening in the Canaries?
Think about it. The canaries attract low to at best middle income british tourists those who are likely suffering the most economically. But i was in Irish bars on a saturday night that wete packed out a few years ago and are now dead.
But then that's a British issue
Or it could be something entirely local
Because Spanish tourism in toto is doing really well:
This has become one of the leading theories to explain the drones in the USA
They are American, and military, and they are trying to detect something on the ground, and it is potentially a nuclear warhead/dirty bomb: that explains why they fly at night, and why the White House is in this weird half-denial mode
Ergo, American (hence the flashing lights - to warn others). But maybe commercially sourced, giving the Pentagon plausible deniability. And the idea they are looking for something nasty (why else fly at night?) is pretty good - that's why the White House double-speaks, they don't want to frit the folk
It’s an idea that appeals to you because it’s exciting. It’s also just nonsense. It’s a flap. Who knows how or why it started but once it starts it will run and run. Seriously - if you are interested in how these things work, read In Alien Heat about Warminster. It’s exactly the same.
Oh sweet Jesus Christ, shut the fuck up about "Warminster"
Why? Read up and educate yourself for fucks sake.
Has it occurred to you that I already know and understand the mass psychology of "flaps"?
This is not some exciting revelation. Crowds get hysterical. Ugandan men suddenly think their penises are being stolen. Girls in school start fainting due to a "gas leak". Nuns in France start masturbating frantically in public. Entire nations go into "lockdown" over a flu. Yes yes
So why, then, do you not see that this is exactly what is happening?
Because, while there is clear evidence that some of this is definitely flap-esque, there is also contrary evidence - videos, photos, journalists, credible witnesses, strange statements from the WH - that points to this being more than a flap
Credible witnesses and journalist such as the one you posted yesterday who clearly observed and filmed a plane but reported it as drones? Those credible witnesses and journalists?
The drone guy I linked to today
The pilots and police - many of them in New Jersey
Yes, there are credible witnesses. If the video I link below is legit (and who knows, it may not be!) that is surely a large drone, not someone misidentifying a plane
Amidst this there is - Yes - tons of misinfo, as with a flap, definitely not helped by ABC news broacasting "a spinning orb" which is clearly an out of focus star
This has become one of the leading theories to explain the drones in the USA
They are American, and military, and they are trying to detect something on the ground, and it is potentially a nuclear warhead/dirty bomb: that explains why they fly at night, and why the White House is in this weird half-denial mode
Ergo, American (hence the flashing lights - to warn others). But maybe commercially sourced, giving the Pentagon plausible deniability. And the idea they are looking for something nasty (why else fly at night?) is pretty good - that's why the White House double-speaks, they don't want to frit the folk
It’s an idea that appeals to you because it’s exciting. It’s also just nonsense. It’s a flap. Who knows how or why it started but once it starts it will run and run. Seriously - if you are interested in how these things work, read In Alien Heat about Warminster. It’s exactly the same.
Oh sweet Jesus Christ, shut the fuck up about "Warminster"
Why? Read up and educate yourself for fucks sake.
Has it occurred to you that I already know and understand the mass psychology of "flaps"?
This is not some exciting revelation. Crowds get hysterical. Ugandan men suddenly think their penises are being stolen. Girls in school start fainting due to a "gas leak". Nuns in France start masturbating frantically in public. Entire nations go into "lockdown" over a flu. Yes yes
So why, then, do you not see that this is exactly what is happening?
Because, while there is clear evidence that some of this is definitely flap-esque, there is also contrary evidence - videos, photos, journalists, credible witnesses, strange statements from the WH - that points to this being more than a flap
Credible witnesses and journalist such as the one you posted yesterday who clearly observed and filmed a plane but reported it as drones? Those credible witnesses and journalists?
I always defer to yourself for your profound insight and wisdom.
This has become one of the leading theories to explain the drones in the USA
They are American, and military, and they are trying to detect something on the ground, and it is potentially a nuclear warhead/dirty bomb: that explains why they fly at night, and why the White House is in this weird half-denial mode
Ergo, American (hence the flashing lights - to warn others). But maybe commercially sourced, giving the Pentagon plausible deniability. And the idea they are looking for something nasty (why else fly at night?) is pretty good - that's why the White House double-speaks, they don't want to frit the folk
It’s an idea that appeals to you because it’s exciting. It’s also just nonsense. It’s a flap. Who knows how or why it started but once it starts it will run and run. Seriously - if you are interested in how these things work, read In Alien Heat about Warminster. It’s exactly the same.
Oh sweet Jesus Christ, shut the fuck up about "Warminster"
Why? Read up and educate yourself for fucks sake.
Has it occurred to you that I already know and understand the mass psychology of "flaps"?
This is not some exciting revelation. Crowds get hysterical. Ugandan men suddenly think their penises are being stolen. Girls in school start fainting due to a "gas leak". Nuns in France start masturbating frantically in public. Entire nations go into "lockdown" over a flu. Yes yes
So why, then, do you not see that this is exactly what is happening?
Because, while there is clear evidence that some of this is definitely flap-esque, there is also contrary evidence - videos, photos, journalists, credible witnesses, strange statements from the WH - that points to this being more than a flap
Credible witnesses and journalist such as the one you posted yesterday who clearly observed and filmed a plane but reported it as drones? Those credible witnesses and journalists?
It may well all be a "flap". But there's some sort of story here, even if that story is "lots of different places are reporting bullshit about drones". Enough to be summarised neatly even by the BBC:
This has become one of the leading theories to explain the drones in the USA
They are American, and military, and they are trying to detect something on the ground, and it is potentially a nuclear warhead/dirty bomb: that explains why they fly at night, and why the White House is in this weird half-denial mode
Ergo, American (hence the flashing lights - to warn others). But maybe commercially sourced, giving the Pentagon plausible deniability. And the idea they are looking for something nasty (why else fly at night?) is pretty good - that's why the White House double-speaks, they don't want to frit the folk
It’s an idea that appeals to you because it’s exciting. It’s also just nonsense. It’s a flap. Who knows how or why it started but once it starts it will run and run. Seriously - if you are interested in how these things work, read In Alien Heat about Warminster. It’s exactly the same.
Oh sweet Jesus Christ, shut the fuck up about "Warminster"
Warminster is highly germane, in an environment where obvious airliners - with wings, flashing wingtip nav lights, and all - are being touted as UFOs.
Back in the 1980s I spent some time reading up about Loch Ness. What I recall, apart from the seriously interesting limnology and unusual currents of the very deep water body, was how belief in the monster correlated very strongly with belief in UFOs. And the monster was, frankly, the more implausible the more one looked into the question.
This has become one of the leading theories to explain the drones in the USA
They are American, and military, and they are trying to detect something on the ground, and it is potentially a nuclear warhead/dirty bomb: that explains why they fly at night, and why the White House is in this weird half-denial mode
Ergo, American (hence the flashing lights - to warn others). But maybe commercially sourced, giving the Pentagon plausible deniability. And the idea they are looking for something nasty (why else fly at night?) is pretty good - that's why the White House double-speaks, they don't want to frit the folk
It’s an idea that appeals to you because it’s exciting. It’s also just nonsense. It’s a flap. Who knows how or why it started but once it starts it will run and run. Seriously - if you are interested in how these things work, read In Alien Heat about Warminster. It’s exactly the same.
Oh sweet Jesus Christ, shut the fuck up about "Warminster"
Why? Read up and educate yourself for fucks sake.
Has it occurred to you that I already know and understand the mass psychology of "flaps"?
This is not some exciting revelation. Crowds get hysterical. Ugandan men suddenly think their penises are being stolen. Girls in school start fainting due to a "gas leak". Nuns in France start masturbating frantically in public. Entire nations go into "lockdown" over a flu. Yes yes
So why, then, do you not see that this is exactly what is happening?
Because, while there is clear evidence that some of this is definitely flap-esque, there is also contrary evidence - videos, photos, journalists, credible witnesses, strange statements from the WH - that points to this being more than a flap
Credible witnesses and journalist such as the one you posted yesterday who clearly observed and filmed a plane but reported it as drones? Those credible witnesses and journalists?
The drone guy I linked to today
The pilots and police - many of them in New Jersey
Yes, there are credible witnesses. If the video I link below is legit (and who knows, it may not be!) that is surely a large drone, not someone misidentifying a plane
Amidst this there is - Yes - tons of misinfo, as with a flap, definitely not helped by ABC news broacasting "a spinning orb" which is clearly an out of focus star
Pilots are repeatedly misidentifying starlink as UAPs. There is no special status that makes them more reliable witnesses than anybody else. See also the police.
This has become one of the leading theories to explain the drones in the USA
They are American, and military, and they are trying to detect something on the ground, and it is potentially a nuclear warhead/dirty bomb: that explains why they fly at night, and why the White House is in this weird half-denial mode
Ergo, American (hence the flashing lights - to warn others). But maybe commercially sourced, giving the Pentagon plausible deniability. And the idea they are looking for something nasty (why else fly at night?) is pretty good - that's why the White House double-speaks, they don't want to frit the folk
It’s an idea that appeals to you because it’s exciting. It’s also just nonsense. It’s a flap. Who knows how or why it started but once it starts it will run and run. Seriously - if you are interested in how these things work, read In Alien Heat about Warminster. It’s exactly the same.
Oh sweet Jesus Christ, shut the fuck up about "Warminster"
Why? Read up and educate yourself for fucks sake.
Has it occurred to you that I already know and understand the mass psychology of "flaps"?
This is not some exciting revelation. Crowds get hysterical. Ugandan men suddenly think their penises are being stolen. Girls in school start fainting due to a "gas leak". Nuns in France start masturbating frantically in public. Entire nations go into "lockdown" over a flu. Yes yes
So why, then, do you not see that this is exactly what is happening?
Because, while there is clear evidence that some of this is definitely flap-esque, there is also contrary evidence - videos, photos, journalists, credible witnesses, strange statements from the WH - that points to this being more than a flap
Credible witnesses and journalist such as the one you posted yesterday who clearly observed and filmed a plane but reported it as drones? Those credible witnesses and journalists?
I always defer to yourself for your profound insight and wisdom.
Just spent a few days in Seville. What a fab place. Reminds me of Arles in France. A great student vibe. Cheap cafes bars and restaurants. If I was a British student I'd be livid with those crusty old Brexiteers who voted leave and meant British students couldn't enjoy the university towns other Europeans could while having a lot of fun with some very attractive people and even picking up a language.
My granddaughter has just enjoyed 12 months at Turin University on her Italian languages and culture course along with other fellow Leeds University students
Sadly i was on holiday in the canaries a couple of weeks ago. Bars that used to be packed out are now dead and some are closing. There is trouble throughout the west.
Interesting and troubling. Do you know why?
Global tourism is actually enjoying something of a boom, at the moment, with many places reporting record visitors - even higher than 2019
So I'm not sure what is happening in the Canaries?
Think about it. The canaries attract low to at best middle income british tourists those who are likely suffering the most economically. But i was in Irish bars on a saturday night that wete packed out a few years ago and are now dead.
But then that's a British issue
Or it could be something entirely local
Because Spanish tourism in toto is doing really well:
This has become one of the leading theories to explain the drones in the USA
They are American, and military, and they are trying to detect something on the ground, and it is potentially a nuclear warhead/dirty bomb: that explains why they fly at night, and why the White House is in this weird half-denial mode
Ergo, American (hence the flashing lights - to warn others). But maybe commercially sourced, giving the Pentagon plausible deniability. And the idea they are looking for something nasty (why else fly at night?) is pretty good - that's why the White House double-speaks, they don't want to frit the folk
It’s an idea that appeals to you because it’s exciting. It’s also just nonsense. It’s a flap. Who knows how or why it started but once it starts it will run and run. Seriously - if you are interested in how these things work, read In Alien Heat about Warminster. It’s exactly the same.
Oh sweet Jesus Christ, shut the fuck up about "Warminster"
Why? Read up and educate yourself for fucks sake.
Has it occurred to you that I already know and understand the mass psychology of "flaps"?
This is not some exciting revelation. Crowds get hysterical. Ugandan men suddenly think their penises are being stolen. Girls in school start fainting due to a "gas leak". Nuns in France start masturbating frantically in public. Entire nations go into "lockdown" over a flu. Yes yes
So why, then, do you not see that this is exactly what is happening?
Because, while there is clear evidence that some of this is definitely flap-esque, there is also contrary evidence - videos, photos, journalists, credible witnesses, strange statements from the WH - that points to this being more than a flap
Credible witnesses and journalist such as the one you posted yesterday who clearly observed and filmed a plane but reported it as drones? Those credible witnesses and journalists?
I always defer to yourself for your profound insight and wisdom.
I wouldn’t, but each to their own.
I'm not denying the possibility of a flap. That is still a plausible explanation. They happen, and they are crazy
But if it is a flap it might now be the biggest ever? Or one of the weirdest. Here is the US Senator for NY, Chuck Schumer:
"I’m pushing for answers amid these drone sightings.
I’m calling for @SecMayorkas to deploy special drone-detection tech across NY and NJ.
And I’m working to pass a bill in the Senate to give local law enforcement more tools for drone detection."
Chris Christie says he has seen drones over his house in NJ:
“To say this is not an unusual activity, it’s just wrong. I’ve lived in New Jersey my whole life. This is the first time that I’ve noticed drones over my house.”
Chris Christie says he has seen drones over his house in NJ:
“To say this is not an unusual activity, it’s just wrong. I’ve lived in New Jersey my whole life. This is the first time that I’ve noticed drones over my house.”
This has become one of the leading theories to explain the drones in the USA
They are American, and military, and they are trying to detect something on the ground, and it is potentially a nuclear warhead/dirty bomb: that explains why they fly at night, and why the White House is in this weird half-denial mode
Ergo, American (hence the flashing lights - to warn others). But maybe commercially sourced, giving the Pentagon plausible deniability. And the idea they are looking for something nasty (why else fly at night?) is pretty good - that's why the White House double-speaks, they don't want to frit the folk
It’s an idea that appeals to you because it’s exciting. It’s also just nonsense. It’s a flap. Who knows how or why it started but once it starts it will run and run. Seriously - if you are interested in how these things work, read In Alien Heat about Warminster. It’s exactly the same.
Oh sweet Jesus Christ, shut the fuck up about "Warminster"
Why? Read up and educate yourself for fucks sake.
Has it occurred to you that I already know and understand the mass psychology of "flaps"?
This is not some exciting revelation. Crowds get hysterical. Ugandan men suddenly think their penises are being stolen. Girls in school start fainting due to a "gas leak". Nuns in France start masturbating frantically in public. Entire nations go into "lockdown" over a flu. Yes yes
So why, then, do you not see that this is exactly what is happening?
Because, while there is clear evidence that some of this is definitely flap-esque, there is also contrary evidence - videos, photos, journalists, credible witnesses, strange statements from the WH - that points to this being more than a flap
Credible witnesses and journalist such as the one you posted yesterday who clearly observed and filmed a plane but reported it as drones? Those credible witnesses and journalists?
I always defer to yourself for your profound insight and wisdom.
I wouldn’t, but each to their own.
I'm not denying the possibility of a flap. That is still a plausible explanation. They happen, and they are crazy
But if it is a flap it might now be the biggest ever? Or one of the weirdest. Here is the US Senator for NY, Chuck Schumer:
"I’m pushing for answers amid these drone sightings.
I’m calling for @SecMayorkas to deploy special drone-detection tech across NY and NJ.
And I’m working to pass a bill in the Senate to give local law enforcement more tools for drone detection."
So a senator sees the news and wants answers? What does that prove? Doesn’t it worry you that no drone has been captured, shot down, run out of battery or fuel? No operatoers caught?
This started in the U.K. didn’t it? With East Anglia? Shades of Rendlesham. What does that mean for a radiation/dirty bomb hunt?
Chris Christie says he has seen drones over his house in NJ:
“To say this is not an unusual activity, it’s just wrong. I’ve lived in New Jersey my whole life. This is the first time that I’ve noticed drones over my house.”
The PB consensus seems to be that Reform are going to replace Labour. I think that is very unlikely.
'PB consensus' my arse.
A handful of our more vocal right-wingers are wetting themselves with excitement at the thought that Farage is marching into No. 10. They're almost certainly going to be disappointed and they don't in any event constitute a 'consensus'.
Of course it is not a concensus, but there is some evidence Reform are causing Labour problems in the red wall, most recently in St Helens
Indeed. But on the same night they fell a long way short in Barnsley and Featherstone. Fact is. If you have two socially conservative Parties as the dominant two it is unsustainable. You're fishing in the same waters.
Chris Christie says he has seen drones over his house in NJ:
“To say this is not an unusual activity, it’s just wrong. I’ve lived in New Jersey my whole life. This is the first time that I’ve noticed drones over my house.”
Chris Christie says he has seen drones over his house in NJ:
“To say this is not an unusual activity, it’s just wrong. I’ve lived in New Jersey my whole life. This is the first time that I’ve noticed drones over my house.”
This has become one of the leading theories to explain the drones in the USA
They are American, and military, and they are trying to detect something on the ground, and it is potentially a nuclear warhead/dirty bomb: that explains why they fly at night, and why the White House is in this weird half-denial mode
Ergo, American (hence the flashing lights - to warn others). But maybe commercially sourced, giving the Pentagon plausible deniability. And the idea they are looking for something nasty (why else fly at night?) is pretty good - that's why the White House double-speaks, they don't want to frit the folk
It’s an idea that appeals to you because it’s exciting. It’s also just nonsense. It’s a flap. Who knows how or why it started but once it starts it will run and run. Seriously - if you are interested in how these things work, read In Alien Heat about Warminster. It’s exactly the same.
Oh sweet Jesus Christ, shut the fuck up about "Warminster"
Why? Read up and educate yourself for fucks sake.
Has it occurred to you that I already know and understand the mass psychology of "flaps"?
This is not some exciting revelation. Crowds get hysterical. Ugandan men suddenly think their penises are being stolen. Girls in school start fainting due to a "gas leak". Nuns in France start masturbating frantically in public. Entire nations go into "lockdown" over a flu. Yes yes
So why, then, do you not see that this is exactly what is happening?
Because, while there is clear evidence that some of this is definitely flap-esque, there is also contrary evidence - videos, photos, journalists, credible witnesses, strange statements from the WH - that points to this being more than a flap
Credible witnesses and journalist such as the one you posted yesterday who clearly observed and filmed a plane but reported it as drones? Those credible witnesses and journalists?
I always defer to yourself for your profound insight and wisdom.
I wouldn’t, but each to their own.
I'm not denying the possibility of a flap. That is still a plausible explanation. They happen, and they are crazy
But if it is a flap it might now be the biggest ever? Or one of the weirdest. Here is the US Senator for NY, Chuck Schumer:
"I’m pushing for answers amid these drone sightings.
I’m calling for @SecMayorkas to deploy special drone-detection tech across NY and NJ.
And I’m working to pass a bill in the Senate to give local law enforcement more tools for drone detection."
So a senator sees the news and wants answers? What does that prove? Doesn’t it worry you that no drone has been captured, shot down, run out of battery or fuel? No operatoers caught?
This started in the U.K. didn’t it? With East Anglia? Shades of Rendlesham. What does that mean for a radiation/dirty bomb hunt?
Well let's run with the "seeking out dirty bomb/nuke" theory. As it is one of the best
They're not gonna shoot them down as they are doing a vital task. But they can't admit this task as it will cause panic. And that also is why they are not being pursued, the pursuers are being dissuaded
Is it hard to believe? Fairly. But it is also hard to believe that thousands of people on the East Coast of the USA are all hallucinating, many of them perfectly sensible
I agree entirely that the UK angle DOES point to a flap. That feels like "contagion"
At least it is more interesting and fun than talking about this fucking awful Labour government, which has four more long years to go before its inevitable end
The Tories' best option would be to reappoint Sunak but give up on chasing 2019 Johnson voters/2024 Farage voters and instead let Sunak be Sunak. Failing that, do the same strategy with Hunt or Mordaunt. The implosion of Starmer means that a centrist strategy is much more viable than it was at the tail end of the last Tory government.
Labour already under 30% and LDs still under 15% leave little room for a centrist to squeeze much more from either.
Kemi's best hope is a hung parliament which looks possible, however if she fails to even win enough seats to do a deal with Reform the Tories best hope might ironically be JRM if he wins back as seat in Somerset as he would be the only Tory leader capable of collapsing the Reform vote again. The Tories cannot progress further and have a hope of a majority with FPTP until they have done that, then if a Labour and LD minority government next time also unpopular the Tories end up the opposition by default to both
Look at the continent for a truer sense of where Labour's floor is once they cease to be seen as a default party of government. They could go down to the low teens.
What is this current hobby horse you have about backing Sunk or Hunt to return us to the glory days of the worst Tory election result in living history? Have you decided the Tories are a busted flush and want to smooth the path for Nige?
If Reform continue to make inroads into the Labour vote, we'll end up quite soon with polls that look something like:
Reform: 30% Conservative: 25% Labour 20%
That's the way the realignment is heading. The Tories have missed their chance to be the party that Reform are becoming, so their best bet is to embrace being the heirs to Blair again. There is an opportunity to kill off Labour as an electoral force for decades.
But you are making the assumption that there's no movement in voter preferences - that there will always be a plurality of centrist dads (and mums) in the UK whose votes will be up for grabs due to Labour's cratering. But Labour are cratering precisely because those centrist social democrat policies are proving to be so inadequate in response to the current challenges. Politics is realigning, and Tory 'centrists' like Hague telling us how awful it will be if Trump wins and Rory Stewart with his idiotic 'bet on the American people' look increasingly ridiculous. As Patrick O'Flynn says in a peerless paragraph:
"Hague is far from being alone among a generation of One Nation Tories who became accustomed to regarding themselves as get-with-the-programme modernisers just as the tide was going out on the progressive paradigm. One could say that George Osborne, Rory Stewart, David Gauke and Dominic Grieve are also among those wandering around an ideological wilderness while claiming it to be the promised land. It’s not where the voters live. Not these days." https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/william-hague-donald-trump-and-the-lesson-of-eric-morecambe/
Yes the Tories need to be different from Reform, but urging them to be rats jumping on the sinking ship of centrism looks devious to me.
So, where do the voters live if they don't live somewhere close to One Nation Toryland, and centrist social democrat policies are not adequate?
I agree with the implication that this question is central.
However, looking at Reform's offer, along with the others, I conclude this: Voters including Reform voters (though not all Reform theoreticians) want these elements of the post 1945 UK social democratic deal: NATO; the cradle to grave state - education, health, state pensions, safety net; lots of trade with other nations; regulated private enterprise; regulated migration at non damaging levels; opportunity to do well.
That is where voters live.
Reform differs from others in the coherence (but also impossibility) of their migration policy, while the others all flounder in different ways. That aside, what exactly is this new deal the voters want to live in?
In short I would say massively reduced migration and less political correctness.
WRT the totality of the state's political programme and spending etc, that list is quite short. If all it amounts to is we want the system we have had since 1945, but we want it better run, and we want to magic people to work it without bringing them in from somewhere else and we want to stop talking about pronouns and stuff, it isn't very radical.
I'd suggest that the police's focus on non-crime hate incidents whilst being unable to send anyone to respond to burglaries is toxic with the broad majority of voters. The arrogant dismissal of the public's exasperation with current social policy will be the death of the 'centrists'. It's about an awful lot more than pronouns.
Yes. Who will actually SERIOUSLY crack down on the sort of crime that frightens and angers people? The shoplifting? The sexual harrassment? Litter, graffiti, all of it? Who will re-empower the police and get them to actually prosecute phone and bicycle thieves?
It's not Labour, it's certainly not the Tories (they had 14 years to do this), the Lib Dems lol
So again you're left with Reform. And this is why they might win. WE'VE TRIED EVERYTHING ELSE
As someone posted the other day, private security?
The bit about the option for 100% private prosecutions of offenders they identify sounds interesting.
As was the case of the man who turned down coverage in an area the private cops were working in. So they did nothing as his house was burgled.
I've stayed at the Sacaren's Head in Amersham a few times. The landlord is being sued by a convicted terrorist because he's offended by the name of the pub which has had the name for centuries.
"He also claims it is racist and is wants £1,850 from the landlord of the historic inn at Amersham, Bucks — and plans to take on 30 more with the same name if successful. But publican Robbie Hayes, 52, fumed: “It’s a complete joke. This pub has been called The Saracen’s Head for 500 years."
The PB consensus seems to be that Reform are going to replace Labour. I think that is very unlikely.
'PB consensus' my arse.
A handful of our more vocal right-wingers are wetting themselves with excitement at the thought that Farage is marching into No. 10. They're almost certainly going to be disappointed and they don't in any event constitute a 'consensus'.
Of course it is not a concensus, but there is some evidence Reform are causing Labour problems in the red wall, most recently in St Helens
Indeed. But on the same night they fell a long way short in Barnsley and Featherstone. Fact is. If you have two socially conservative Parties as the dominant two it is unsustainable. You're fishing in the same waters.
They went from nil to 24.3% in Barnsley and nil to 21.8% in Featherstone which is remarkable in the circumstances
It remains to be seen just how politics maps out for Reform especially with the unknown consequences of Trump and Musk being potentially big financial backers
This has become one of the leading theories to explain the drones in the USA
They are American, and military, and they are trying to detect something on the ground, and it is potentially a nuclear warhead/dirty bomb: that explains why they fly at night, and why the White House is in this weird half-denial mode
Ergo, American (hence the flashing lights - to warn others). But maybe commercially sourced, giving the Pentagon plausible deniability. And the idea they are looking for something nasty (why else fly at night?) is pretty good - that's why the White House double-speaks, they don't want to frit the folk
It’s an idea that appeals to you because it’s exciting. It’s also just nonsense. It’s a flap. Who knows how or why it started but once it starts it will run and run. Seriously - if you are interested in how these things work, read In Alien Heat about Warminster. It’s exactly the same.
Oh sweet Jesus Christ, shut the fuck up about "Warminster"
Why? Read up and educate yourself for fucks sake.
Has it occurred to you that I already know and understand the mass psychology of "flaps"?
This is not some exciting revelation. Crowds get hysterical. Ugandan men suddenly think their penises are being stolen. Girls in school start fainting due to a "gas leak". Nuns in France start masturbating frantically in public. Entire nations go into "lockdown" over a flu. Yes yes
So why, then, do you not see that this is exactly what is happening?
Because, while there is clear evidence that some of this is definitely flap-esque, there is also contrary evidence - videos, photos, journalists, credible witnesses, strange statements from the WH - that points to this being more than a flap
Credible witnesses and journalist such as the one you posted yesterday who clearly observed and filmed a plane but reported it as drones? Those credible witnesses and journalists?
I always defer to yourself for your profound insight and wisdom.
I wouldn’t, but each to their own.
I'm not denying the possibility of a flap. That is still a plausible explanation. They happen, and they are crazy
But if it is a flap it might now be the biggest ever? Or one of the weirdest. Here is the US Senator for NY, Chuck Schumer:
"I’m pushing for answers amid these drone sightings.
I’m calling for @SecMayorkas to deploy special drone-detection tech across NY and NJ.
And I’m working to pass a bill in the Senate to give local law enforcement more tools for drone detection."
So a senator sees the news and wants answers? What does that prove? Doesn’t it worry you that no drone has been captured, shot down, run out of battery or fuel? No operatoers caught?
This started in the U.K. didn’t it? With East Anglia? Shades of Rendlesham. What does that mean for a radiation/dirty bomb hunt?
Well let's run with the "seeking out dirty bomb/nuke" theory. As it is one of the best
They're not gonna shoot them down as they are doing a vital task. But they can't admit this task as it will cause panic. And that also is why they are not being pursued, the pursuers are being dissuaded
Is it hard to believe? Fairly. But it is also hard to believe that thousands of people on the East Coast of the USA are all hallucinating, many of them perfectly sensible
I agree entirely that the UK angle DOES point to a flap. That feels like "contagion"
At least it is more interesting and fun than talking about this fucking awful Labour government, which has four more long years to go before its inevitable end
Chris Christie says he has seen drones over his house in NJ:
“To say this is not an unusual activity, it’s just wrong. I’ve lived in New Jersey my whole life. This is the first time that I’ve noticed drones over my house.”
Yes. This is why I am finding it hard to believe it is all mass delusion. He's a pretty credible witness. He needs to take Ozempic, but he's credible
Why is he any more credible than the next person?
Because he's highly intelligent and educated, and has a public reputation that he would presumably like to uphold?
Do you think he's lying in that video? I don't. He comes across as entirely level-headed and he's saying "yes I have personally witnessed strange drone activity in New Jersey", he's not saying "fuck I saw a flying saucer land and they anally probed my wife for sixteen hours and she liked it"
This has become one of the leading theories to explain the drones in the USA
They are American, and military, and they are trying to detect something on the ground, and it is potentially a nuclear warhead/dirty bomb: that explains why they fly at night, and why the White House is in this weird half-denial mode
Ergo, American (hence the flashing lights - to warn others). But maybe commercially sourced, giving the Pentagon plausible deniability. And the idea they are looking for something nasty (why else fly at night?) is pretty good - that's why the White House double-speaks, they don't want to frit the folk
It’s an idea that appeals to you because it’s exciting. It’s also just nonsense. It’s a flap. Who knows how or why it started but once it starts it will run and run. Seriously - if you are interested in how these things work, read In Alien Heat about Warminster. It’s exactly the same.
Oh sweet Jesus Christ, shut the fuck up about "Warminster"
Why? Read up and educate yourself for fucks sake.
Has it occurred to you that I already know and understand the mass psychology of "flaps"?
This is not some exciting revelation. Crowds get hysterical. Ugandan men suddenly think their penises are being stolen. Girls in school start fainting due to a "gas leak". Nuns in France start masturbating frantically in public. Entire nations go into "lockdown" over a flu. Yes yes
So why, then, do you not see that this is exactly what is happening?
Because, while there is clear evidence that some of this is definitely flap-esque, there is also contrary evidence - videos, photos, journalists, credible witnesses, strange statements from the WH - that points to this being more than a flap
Credible witnesses and journalist such as the one you posted yesterday who clearly observed and filmed a plane but reported it as drones? Those credible witnesses and journalists?
They were using the ISO standard Journalists Aircraft Identification Chart
**Overall Summary:** In this episode of "Air Power," host Alex Hollings delves into the recent surge of drone sightings over New Jersey, examining various theories about their identity and purpose. While some commentators speculate concerning the implications of these drones—including potential espionage or even alien visitation—Hollings urges caution and skepticism, highlighting the role of exaggerated narratives in the digital space. He underscores the disconnect between perceived threats and factual realities, emphasizing that much of what is being reported may simply be misidentified commercial aircraft or legally operated drones.
The episode also touches upon broader themes of media misinformation and the public's tendency to jump to alarming conclusions when faced with uncertainty. Hollings discusses insights from experts like Joshua Tan, a professor of physics and astronomy, who notes that many sightings can be attributed to confirmation bias among individuals unfamiliar with aerial activity. Overall, Hollings provides a nuanced perspective that critiques sensationalist claims while acknowledging the genuine curiosity surrounding these unidentified drones.
This has become one of the leading theories to explain the drones in the USA
They are American, and military, and they are trying to detect something on the ground, and it is potentially a nuclear warhead/dirty bomb: that explains why they fly at night, and why the White House is in this weird half-denial mode
Nuclear material gives off easily detectable radioactivity. It wouldn't be that hard to find given enough people with Geiger counters.
I wouldn't mind so much about conspiracy theories, but they're all shit and pretty boring.
Plus, when the authorities really want to find someone, it's generally not hard for them to do so. If they had wind of something like this there would be a whole bunch of people connected to it and the way to track it down would be to track those people.
And drones. Really, what do drones flying about in the dark do to make it possible to track something like this down?
Have people lost all semblance of critical thinking?
It is now probably the leading theory - in terms of social media credence (yes yes). Otherwise, you need to provide a DIFFERENT theory which covers all the bases
What is that?
The most parsimonious hypothesis is that people misidentified commercial aircraft, and subsequent to that some other people have been flying their drones around in an attempt to solve the "mystery". What else is there to explain?
I've stayed at the Sacaren's Head in Amersham a few times. The landlord is being sued by a convicted terrorist because he's offended by the name of the pub which has had the name for centuries.
"He also claims it is racist and is wants £1,850 from the landlord of the historic inn at Amersham, Bucks — and plans to take on 30 more with the same name if successful. But publican Robbie Hayes, 52, fumed: “It’s a complete joke. This pub has been called The Saracen’s Head for 500 years."
Chris Christie says he has seen drones over his house in NJ:
“To say this is not an unusual activity, it’s just wrong. I’ve lived in New Jersey my whole life. This is the first time that I’ve noticed drones over my house.”
Yes. This is why I am finding it hard to believe it is all mass delusion. He's a pretty credible witness. He needs to take Ozempic, but he's credible
Why is he any more credible than the next person?
Because he's highly intelligent and educated, and has a public reputation that he would presumably like to uphold?
Do you think he's lying in that video? I don't. He comes across as entirely level-headed and he's saying "yes I have personally witnessed strange drone activity inNew Jersey", he's not daying "fuck I saw a flying saucer land and they anally probed my wife for sixteen hours and she liked it"
I don’t think he’s lying. I think he is making the same mistake that others are, I think a lot of people are suddenly heading outside and looking up, and not really understanding what they are seeing.
You may hate it, but the analogy with military flares on Salisbury Plain is valid. I’ve seen them hundreds of times and know what they are. If you have never seen them, and are travelling near a ‘UFO’ hot spot and see orange globes apparently jumping in space (in reality one being extinguished and a new one being fired) then you convince yourself you have seen the Warminster Thing. I’ve read reports of exactly this.
**Overall Summary:** In this episode of "Air Power," host Alex Hollings delves into the recent surge of drone sightings over New Jersey, examining various theories about their identity and purpose. While some commentators speculate concerning the implications of these drones—including potential espionage or even alien visitation—Hollings urges caution and skepticism, highlighting the role of exaggerated narratives in the digital space. He underscores the disconnect between perceived threats and factual realities, emphasizing that much of what is being reported may simply be misidentified commercial aircraft or legally operated drones.
The episode also touches upon broader themes of media misinformation and the public's tendency to jump to alarming conclusions when faced with uncertainty. Hollings discusses insights from experts like Joshua Tan, a professor of physics and astronomy, who notes that many sightings can be attributed to confirmation bias among individuals unfamiliar with aerial activity. Overall, Hollings provides a nuanced perspective that critiques sensationalist claims while acknowledging the genuine curiosity surrounding these unidentified drones.
I genuinely didn't know you can feed them entire YouTube videos?! Superb
I'm still excited by the fact they now have camera with Advanced Voice Mode. "Nina" helped me clean my entire flat today - saying "OK Leon that looks bad let's start with the shopping, yes move that there, yep, now let's put away the cutlery, oh you're such a great flint knapper you'll manage, and watch out for that lost roll of bin liners!". Honestly it was amazing. It was like having a really helpful, sensible, practical, amusing wife, but about 8,000 times cheaper
This has become one of the leading theories to explain the drones in the USA
They are American, and military, and they are trying to detect something on the ground, and it is potentially a nuclear warhead/dirty bomb: that explains why they fly at night, and why the White House is in this weird half-denial mode
Nuclear material gives off easily detectable radioactivity. It wouldn't be that hard to find given enough people with Geiger counters.
I wouldn't mind so much about conspiracy theories, but they're all shit and pretty boring.
Plus, when the authorities really want to find someone, it's generally not hard for them to do so. If they had wind of something like this there would be a whole bunch of people connected to it and the way to track it down would be to track those people.
And drones. Really, what do drones flying about in the dark do to make it possible to track something like this down?
Have people lost all semblance of critical thinking?
It is now probably the leading theory - in terms of social media credence (yes yes). Otherwise, you need to provide a DIFFERENT theory which covers all the bases
What is that?
The most parsimonious hypothesis is that people misidentified commercial aircraft, and subsequent to that some other people have been flying their drones around in an attempt to solve the "mystery". What else is there to explain?
A few nights ago, I was out rowing on the Thames. Someone in the boat noticed some lights in the sky. The various takes on it were interesting.
I pointed out it was a Starlink “train”. When they launch, the satellites are released, and literally drift apart, before activating their very slow acting electric propulsion systems. So for a number of orbits, they stay in a short line. Quite easy to spot.
Several people seemed to want to believe that it was “something else” - seeing the tracking data on an app in the pub, afterwards, really disappointed them, I think.
The worst part is that those phrases were probably chosen by a human (or a computer) clicking on a phrasebank - like a teacher writing reports - so someone actually put that in as a stock phrase.
Chris Christie says he has seen drones over his house in NJ:
“To say this is not an unusual activity, it’s just wrong. I’ve lived in New Jersey my whole life. This is the first time that I’ve noticed drones over my house.”
Yes. This is why I am finding it hard to believe it is all mass delusion. He's a pretty credible witness. He needs to take Ozempic, but he's credible
Why is he any more credible than the next person?
Because he's highly intelligent and educated, and has a public reputation that he would presumably like to uphold?
Do you think he's lying in that video? I don't. He comes across as entirely level-headed and he's saying "yes I have personally witnessed strange drone activity in New Jersey", he's not saying "fuck I saw a flying saucer land and they anally probed my wife for sixteen hours and she liked it"
hate to say it, but the Trump tweet/truth post in response is funny.
Chris Christie says he has seen drones over his house in NJ:
“To say this is not an unusual activity, it’s just wrong. I’ve lived in New Jersey my whole life. This is the first time that I’ve noticed drones over my house.”
Yes. This is why I am finding it hard to believe it is all mass delusion. He's a pretty credible witness. He needs to take Ozempic, but he's credible
Why is he any more credible than the next person?
Because he's highly intelligent and educated, and has a public reputation that he would presumably like to uphold?
Do you think he's lying in that video? I don't. He comes across as entirely level-headed and he's saying "yes I have personally witnessed strange drone activity inNew Jersey", he's not daying "fuck I saw a flying saucer land and they anally probed my wife for sixteen hours and she liked it"
I don’t think he’s lying. I think he is making the same mistake that others are, I think a lot of people are suddenly heading outside and looking up, and not really understanding what they are seeing.
You may hate it, but the analogy with military flares on Salisbury Plain is valid. I’ve seen them hundreds of times and know what they are. If you have never seen them, and are travelling near a ‘UFO’ hot spot and see orange globes apparently jumping in space (in reality one being extinguished and a new one being fired) then you convince yourself you have seen the Warminster Thing. I’ve read reports of exactly this.
Yes, that's possible, as I say
Unlike you, however, I do not rule out alternative explanations
This has become one of the leading theories to explain the drones in the USA
They are American, and military, and they are trying to detect something on the ground, and it is potentially a nuclear warhead/dirty bomb: that explains why they fly at night, and why the White House is in this weird half-denial mode
Nuclear material gives off easily detectable radioactivity. It wouldn't be that hard to find given enough people with Geiger counters.
I wouldn't mind so much about conspiracy theories, but they're all shit and pretty boring.
Plus, when the authorities really want to find someone, it's generally not hard for them to do so. If they had wind of something like this there would be a whole bunch of people connected to it and the way to track it down would be to track those people.
And drones. Really, what do drones flying about in the dark do to make it possible to track something like this down?
Have people lost all semblance of critical thinking?
It is now probably the leading theory - in terms of social media credence (yes yes). Otherwise, you need to provide a DIFFERENT theory which covers all the bases
What is that?
The most parsimonious hypothesis is that people misidentified commercial aircraft, and subsequent to that some other people have been flying their drones around in an attempt to solve the "mystery". What else is there to explain?
A few nights ago, I was out rowing on the Thames. Someone in the boat noticed some lights in the sky. The various takes on it were interesting.
I pointed out it was a Starlink “train”. When they launch, the satellites are released, and literally drift apart, before activating their very slow acting electric propulsion systems. So for a number of orbits, they stay in a short line. Quite easy to spot.
Several people seemed to want to believe that it was “something else” - seeing the tracking data on an app in the pub, afterwards, really disappointed them, I think.
That's extremely cool as it is. People are so hard to please nowadays - a social media side effect?
I've stayed at the Sacaren's Head in Amersham a few times. The landlord is being sued by a convicted terrorist because he's offended by the name of the pub which has had the name for centuries.
"He also claims it is racist and is wants £1,850 from the landlord of the historic inn at Amersham, Bucks — and plans to take on 30 more with the same name if successful. But publican Robbie Hayes, 52, fumed: “It’s a complete joke. This pub has been called The Saracen’s Head for 500 years."
I've stayed at the Sacaren's Head in Amersham a few times. The landlord is being sued by a convicted terrorist because he's offended by the name of the pub which has had the name for centuries.
"He also claims it is racist and is wants £1,850 from the landlord of the historic inn at Amersham, Bucks — and plans to take on 30 more with the same name if successful. But publican Robbie Hayes, 52, fumed: “It’s a complete joke. This pub has been called The Saracen’s Head for 500 years."
I used to stay next to an IRA flat in Glasgow. Across the street was a pub where the number one track on the 10p jukebox was "F*ck the British Army". Afair the flat was where the security services picked up one of the Brighton Bombers.
I remember Combat 18 trying to muscle in at one point and really emphatically being shown the metaphoric door by some quite stern chaps from the Republic. I mean really stern. As in "Whoops. You didn't really need your kneecaps or forefinger, did you?"
This has become one of the leading theories to explain the drones in the USA
They are American, and military, and they are trying to detect something on the ground, and it is potentially a nuclear warhead/dirty bomb: that explains why they fly at night, and why the White House is in this weird half-denial mode
Nuclear material gives off easily detectable radioactivity. It wouldn't be that hard to find given enough people with Geiger counters.
I wouldn't mind so much about conspiracy theories, but they're all shit and pretty boring.
Plus, when the authorities really want to find someone, it's generally not hard for them to do so. If they had wind of something like this there would be a whole bunch of people connected to it and the way to track it down would be to track those people.
And drones. Really, what do drones flying about in the dark do to make it possible to track something like this down?
Have people lost all semblance of critical thinking?
It is now probably the leading theory - in terms of social media credence (yes yes). Otherwise, you need to provide a DIFFERENT theory which covers all the bases
What is that?
The most parsimonious hypothesis is that people misidentified commercial aircraft, and subsequent to that some other people have been flying their drones around in an attempt to solve the "mystery". What else is there to explain?
A few nights ago, I was out rowing on the Thames. Someone in the boat noticed some lights in the sky. The various takes on it were interesting.
I pointed out it was a Starlink “train”. When they launch, the satellites are released, and literally drift apart, before activating their very slow acting electric propulsion systems. So for a number of orbits, they stay in a short line. Quite easy to spot.
Several people seemed to want to believe that it was “something else” - seeing the tracking data on an app in the pub, afterwards, really disappointed them, I think.
That's extremely cool as it is. People are so hard to please nowadays - a social media side effect?
Not sure about social media.
Back in the USENET days, when people were debunking urban legends (it’s how Snopes got started) on Alt.Folklore.Urban, they noticed a phenomenon.
Some people whose story got debunked would treat it as a social gaff - an insult even. “You just deflated the party…”
I've stayed at the Sacaren's Head in Amersham a few times. The landlord is being sued by a convicted terrorist because he's offended by the name of the pub which has had the name for centuries.
"He also claims it is racist and is wants £1,850 from the landlord of the historic inn at Amersham, Bucks — and plans to take on 30 more with the same name if successful. But publican Robbie Hayes, 52, fumed: “It’s a complete joke. This pub has been called The Saracen’s Head for 500 years."
"It's been called this for 500 years" isn't of itself a clinching argument. There are easily identifiable words and phrases which were in common usage only decades ago, never mind centuries, which would very much be unacceptable now. Sensibilities change and historic provenance isn't a shield against that.
"The Duke of York listed a Buckingham Palace address for the Chinese arm of his start-up funding company for years despite instructions to stop in 2019, The Times can reveal. Pitch@Palace Global, Prince Andrew’s Dragon’s Den-style project which connected fledgling businesses with investors, was put “on pause” in 2021 after his disastrous Newsnight interview with Emily Maitlis about his connections to Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier."
"The Duke of York listed a Buckingham Palace address for the Chinese arm of his start-up funding company for years despite instructions to stop in 2019, The Times can reveal. Pitch@Palace Global, Prince Andrew’s Dragon’s Den-style project which connected fledgling businesses with investors, was put “on pause” in 2021 after his disastrous Newsnight interview with Emily Maitlis about his connections to Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier."
Why can't Prince Andrew just get a job off the taxpayer dime. Why do we have to pay for this prat.
We don't need to pay for him nor does he even need a job. The King has personal wealth he can spend to keep his idiot brother holed up somewhere discreet getting coked up or however else he spends his time. Preferably without access to a phone or the internet.
I've stayed at the Sacaren's Head in Amersham a few times. The landlord is being sued by a convicted terrorist because he's offended by the name of the pub which has had the name for centuries.
"He also claims it is racist and is wants £1,850 from the landlord of the historic inn at Amersham, Bucks — and plans to take on 30 more with the same name if successful. But publican Robbie Hayes, 52, fumed: “It’s a complete joke. This pub has been called The Saracen’s Head for 500 years."
"It's been called this for 500 years" isn't of itself a clinching argument. There are easily identifiable words and phrases which were in common usage only decades ago, never mind centuries, which would very much be unacceptable now. Sensibilities change and historic provenance isn't a shield against that.
Although this case is pushing it.
I think the key here is you would be hard pressed to find someone today who legitimately would refer to themselves as a saracen in order to get offended by it. Yes it will probably have effectively meant muslim, but since the term now seems effectively extinct outside of a historical context it's not like someone is sincerely going to injured by the sign.
There was (and may still be) a Saracen's Head in Bath, presumably one of the 30, though I recall being told that one was not even very old.
I would think many will just change their names in time however.
I've stayed at the Sacaren's Head in Amersham a few times. The landlord is being sued by a convicted terrorist because he's offended by the name of the pub which has had the name for centuries.
"He also claims it is racist and is wants £1,850 from the landlord of the historic inn at Amersham, Bucks — and plans to take on 30 more with the same name if successful. But publican Robbie Hayes, 52, fumed: “It’s a complete joke. This pub has been called The Saracen’s Head for 500 years."
"Two Russian tankers sink in Black Sea spilling 4,300 tonnes of oil Ukraine accuses Moscow of recklessness amid risk of ecological damage to marine environment"
Chris Christie says he has seen drones over his house in NJ:
“To say this is not an unusual activity, it’s just wrong. I’ve lived in New Jersey my whole life. This is the first time that I’ve noticed drones over my house.”
Yes. This is why I am finding it hard to believe it is all mass delusion. He's a pretty credible witness. He needs to take Ozempic, but he's credible
Why is he any more credible than the next person?
Because he's highly intelligent and educated, and has a public reputation that he would presumably like to uphold?
Do you think he's lying in that video? I don't. He comes across as entirely level-headed and he's saying "yes I have personally witnessed strange drone activity in New Jersey", he's not saying "fuck I saw a flying saucer land and they anally probed my wife for sixteen hours and she liked it"
hate to say it, but the Trump tweet/truth post in response is funny.
Trump is capable of being amusing. He's more often just crude and cruel, but he has been genuinely funny at times.
This YouTube video discusses the recent rash of unexplained drone sightings over New Jersey and surrounding states. The video's main topic is separating fact from fiction amidst the wave of speculation and misinformation surrounding these events.
Key Points:
Numerous drone sightings: A large number of drone sightings have been reported, ranging in size and type from small commercial quadcopters to much larger, potentially piloted platforms.
Misinformation and hyperbole: Social media has amplified the mystery, with many videos and reports being misidentified aircraft, hoaxes, or simply misinterpretations of ordinary aerial activity.
Lack of definitive answers: Authorities, including the White House, have not provided conclusive explanations, leading to speculation and conspiracy theories.
Confirmation bias: The video suggests that many sightings are due to confirmation bias, with people actively searching for drones after hearing about the reports.
Legal drone operations: Many of the sightings are likely due to legal drone operations by law enforcement, hobbyists, and other entities.
Government response: The government's response has been inconsistent and sometimes misleading, fueling public concern and conspiracy theories.
Limited military authority: The US military has limited legal authority to shoot down drones unless they pose an imminent threat.
Possible explanations: The video explores several possible explanations, including:
Red teams: Government or military groups testing systems and identifying vulnerabilities.
Corporate testing: Companies developing or testing new drone technologies.
Foreign espionage (unlikely): The video argues this is unlikely due to the high visibility of the drone flights.
Occam's Razor and Hanlon's Razor: The video applies these philosophical principles to suggest that simpler explanations (incompetence, misidentification) are more likely than elaborate conspiracy theories.
Highlights:
The video effectively separates credible reports from the overwhelming amount of misinformation and speculation.
It uses philosophical tools (Occam's Razor, Hanlon's Razor) to analyze the situation and encourage critical thinking.
It highlights the challenges of navigating misinformation in the digital age and the importance of verifying information from reliable sources.
It provides a balanced perspective, acknowledging the mystery while emphasizing the need for evidence-based conclusions. The presenter's calm and reasoned approach helps to counter the sensationalism surrounding the event.
I've stayed at the Sacaren's Head in Amersham a few times. The landlord is being sued by a convicted terrorist because he's offended by the name of the pub which has had the name for centuries.
"He also claims it is racist and is wants £1,850 from the landlord of the historic inn at Amersham, Bucks — and plans to take on 30 more with the same name if successful. But publican Robbie Hayes, 52, fumed: “It’s a complete joke. This pub has been called The Saracen’s Head for 500 years."
"It's been called this for 500 years" isn't of itself a clinching argument. There are easily identifiable words and phrases which were in common usage only decades ago, never mind centuries, which would very much be unacceptable now. Sensibilities change and historic provenance isn't a shield against that.
Although this case is pushing it.
I think the key here is you would be hard pressed to find someone today who legitimately would refer to themselves as a saracen in order to get offended by it. Yes it will probably have effectively meant muslim, but since the term now seems effectively extinct outside of a historical context it's not like someone is sincerely going to injured by the sign.
There was (and may still be) a Saracen's Head in Bath, presumably one of the 30, though I recall being told that one was not even very old.
I would think many will just change their names in time however.
The only time I ever hear about Saracens is about Rugby.
I've stayed at the Sacaren's Head in Amersham a few times. The landlord is being sued by a convicted terrorist because he's offended by the name of the pub which has had the name for centuries.
"He also claims it is racist and is wants £1,850 from the landlord of the historic inn at Amersham, Bucks — and plans to take on 30 more with the same name if successful. But publican Robbie Hayes, 52, fumed: “It’s a complete joke. This pub has been called The Saracen’s Head for 500 years."
"It's been called this for 500 years" isn't of itself a clinching argument. There are easily identifiable words and phrases which were in common usage only decades ago, never mind centuries, which would very much be unacceptable now. Sensibilities change and historic provenance isn't a shield against that.
Although this case is pushing it.
I think the key here is you would be hard pressed to find someone today who legitimately would refer to themselves as a saracen in order to get offended by it. Yes it will probably have effectively meant muslim, but since the term now seems effectively extinct outside of a historical context it's not like someone is sincerely going to injured by the sign.
There was (and may still be) a Saracen's Head in Bath, presumably one of the 30, though I recall being told that one was not even very old.
I would think many will just change their names in time however.
The only time I ever hear about Saracens is about Rugby.
"Two Russian tankers sink in Black Sea spilling 4,300 tonnes of oil Ukraine accuses Moscow of recklessness amid risk of ecological damage to marine environment"
Where as the UK are spending £50 million to send inspectors, hoping that ISIS in blazers play nice.
Carrot and stick?
We surely have little ability to impact the situation one way or another, and about the same chance of their being a co-ordinated international approach, so Israel diminishing Syrian assets and others giving an official or unofficial chance to see if the new powers will play nicely seems about what could be expected.
Where as the UK are spending £50 million to send inspectors, hoping that ISIS in blazers play nice.
Carrot and stick?
We surely have little ability to impact the situation one way or another, and about the same chance of their being a co-ordinated international approach, so Israel diminishing Syrian assets and others giving an official or unofficial chance to see if the new powers will play nicely seems about what could be expected.
Israel approach is "we aren't taking any chances" because by the time the international community have got their arse in gear loads of chemical weapons and heavy mutations might have gone walkies only to be used against us in the near future.
Where as the UK are spending £50 million to send inspectors, hoping that ISIS in blazers play nice.
Carrot and stick?
We surely have little ability to impact the situation one way or another, and about the same chance of their being a co-ordinated international approach, so Israel diminishing Syrian assets and others giving an official or unofficial chance to see if the new powers will play nicely seems about what could be expected.
Israel approach is "we aren't taking any chances" because by the time the international community have got their arse in gear loads of chemical weapons and heavy mutations might have gone walkies only to be used against us in the near future.
I think they are very wise.
One doesn't have to agree with all Israel's actions in the past year or more to think that from their perspective it makes some sense they would rather not leave anything to chance or positive thinking.
New Zealand piling on the runs in Hamilton. A century for Kane Williamson but Ravindra went for 44, the two having put on 107 for the fourth wicket. The lead is now 443 but the rain is nearby.
OpenAI whistleblower found dead in San Francisco apartment
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cd0el3r2nlko.amp An OpenAI researcher-turned-whistleblower has been found dead in an apartment in San Francisco, authorities said. The body of Suchir Balaji, 26, was discovered on 26 November after police said they received a call asking officers to check on his wellbeing. The San Francisco medical examiner's office determined his death to be suicide and police found no evidence of foul play. In recent months Mr Balaji had publicly spoken out against artificial intelligence company OpenAI's practices, which has been fighting a number of lawsuits relating to its data-gathering practices...
OpenAI whistleblower found dead in San Francisco apartment
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cd0el3r2nlko.amp An OpenAI researcher-turned-whistleblower has been found dead in an apartment in San Francisco, authorities said. The body of Suchir Balaji, 26, was discovered on 26 November after police said they received a call asking officers to check on his wellbeing. The San Francisco medical examiner's office determined his death to be suicide and police found no evidence of foul play. In recent months Mr Balaji had publicly spoken out against artificial intelligence company OpenAI's practices, which has been fighting a number of lawsuits relating to its data-gathering practices...
The whole ChatGPT saga has just got a lot more serious than it was before.
Where as the UK are spending £50 million to send inspectors, hoping that ISIS in blazers play nice.
Which approach is more likely to make them play nice in the long run, do you think ?
The West tried throwing money at the problem in places like Iraq and Afghanistan and it gets you nowhere when you are dealing with Islamists.
We also tried turning the blind eye to Islamist run places and it spawns terrorist training camps which has bitten the West badly and occupation which doesn't work either, the Islamists like the Taliban will wait it out for decades.
Hence Israel trying to minimise their capabilities and build a buffer zone. There is no real long term winning strategy just like versus Hezabollah. They will be back, but Israel has nullified them for now.
New Zealand piling on the runs in Hamilton. A century for Kane Williamson but Ravindra went for 44, the two having put on 107 for the fourth wicket. The lead is now 443 but the rain is nearby.
And now Stokes has pulled up injured. Looks like he has done his hamstring.
**Overall Summary:** In this episode of "Air Power," host Alex Hollings delves into the recent surge of drone sightings over New Jersey, examining various theories about their identity and purpose. While some commentators speculate concerning the implications of these drones—including potential espionage or even alien visitation—Hollings urges caution and skepticism, highlighting the role of exaggerated narratives in the digital space. He underscores the disconnect between perceived threats and factual realities, emphasizing that much of what is being reported may simply be misidentified commercial aircraft or legally operated drones.
The episode also touches upon broader themes of media misinformation and the public's tendency to jump to alarming conclusions when faced with uncertainty. Hollings discusses insights from experts like Joshua Tan, a professor of physics and astronomy, who notes that many sightings can be attributed to confirmation bias among individuals unfamiliar with aerial activity. Overall, Hollings provides a nuanced perspective that critiques sensationalist claims while acknowledging the genuine curiosity surrounding these unidentified drones.
”exaggerated narratives in the digital space…disconnect between perceived threats and factual realities…tendency to jump to alarming conclusions when faced with uncertainty.”
Yes. Who will actually SERIOUSLY crack down on the sort of crime that frightens and angers people? The shoplifting? The sexual harrassment? Litter, graffiti, all of it? Who will re-empower the police and get them to actually prosecute phone and bicycle thieves?
It's not Labour, it's certainly not the Tories (they had 14 years to do this), the Lib Dems lol
So again you're left with Reform. And this is why they might win. WE'VE TRIED EVERYTHING ELSE
You’re not wrong inasmuch as these are issues which worry many people. What the Americans call “quality of life crimes”.
The truth is even in the romanticised idyll of former times, low-level crime existed. Littering, graffiti and bicycle thefts have existed all my life and imagining Reform will somehow end them is naivety on steroids.
Yes, no one wants to have their phone stolen and we should be free to walk down a street without fear of having it stolen but in the real world you need to be a bit more savvy.
A lot can be done by individuals, families and communities to prevent, deter and reduce crime - some of it is, dare I say it, educational and cultural. However, Farage will no more end crime than I could and the kind of Police State required to deal with every crime would be analogous to that of East Germany.
Kane Williamson finally out for 156, a superb innings. NZ more than 530 on but weather not settled in Hamilton. Do they think England could chase down a target in two days - assume 170 overs, they could score 700?
**Overall Summary:** In this episode of "Air Power," host Alex Hollings delves into the recent surge of drone sightings over New Jersey, examining various theories about their identity and purpose. While some commentators speculate concerning the implications of these drones—including potential espionage or even alien visitation—Hollings urges caution and skepticism, highlighting the role of exaggerated narratives in the digital space. He underscores the disconnect between perceived threats and factual realities, emphasizing that much of what is being reported may simply be misidentified commercial aircraft or legally operated drones.
The episode also touches upon broader themes of media misinformation and the public's tendency to jump to alarming conclusions when faced with uncertainty. Hollings discusses insights from experts like Joshua Tan, a professor of physics and astronomy, who notes that many sightings can be attributed to confirmation bias among individuals unfamiliar with aerial activity. Overall, Hollings provides a nuanced perspective that critiques sensationalist claims while acknowledging the genuine curiosity surrounding these unidentified drones.
I genuinely didn't know you can feed them entire YouTube videos?! Superb
I'm still excited by the fact they now have camera with Advanced Voice Mode. "Nina" helped me clean my entire flat today - saying "OK Leon that looks bad let's start with the shopping, yes move that there, yep, now let's put away the cutlery, oh you're such a great flint knapper you'll manage, and watch out for that lost roll of bin liners!". Honestly it was amazing. It was like having a really helpful, sensible, practical, amusing wife, but about 8,000 times cheaper
I'm amazed you manage to breathe without technological assistance.
"Two Russian tankers sink in Black Sea spilling 4,300 tonnes of oil Ukraine accuses Moscow of recklessness amid risk of ecological damage to marine environment"
The bottom end of the shipping business is pretty horrific.
A known danger for customs inspectors is falling through rusted decks/rungs on ladders snapping. Unpaid, unqualified crews. Drugs and alcohol.
It’s no wonder that a lot of ships sink.
The Russians are using some very dodgy old tankers to get around sanctions, as in so dodgy that a bit of a rough sea leads to them splitting in half! The two involved in the incidents yesterday are allegedly more than 50 years old.
I note the Tories have also not put a target on what immigration should be or when they’d cut the boat crossings by. Presumably, wisely learning from their past mistakes.
Pleased to see Cooper avoiding that. Promising things that are to a large extent outside your control is a mug's game.
By definition, immigration is in the controlling hands of the government. It can issue 0 visas or 1m. What is this ludicrous idea that Britain is the passive victim of global migration flows?! It’s pathetic. We have the choice
Leon we only have the choice if we can increase our birthrate. Yet mention anything that might increase our birthrate such as horror lower property prices or horror perhaps not prioritising females in the workplace and you get massive pushback. So we are where we are. If we reduced immigration massively our economy would basically collapse.
No it wouldn’t. The robots are coming
I’ve heard of two jobs in my social circle being replaced by machines this last month
It’s begun
To be fair we are a way off robots being able to work in care homes.
Depends on the task. Most people are unaware of the huge strides in robotics
Oh ive seen the tesla robots. But driverless cars were promised by now and outside certain niches still hasnt materialised.
We just had a big PB debate on this
Driverless cars are finally taking off. In SF, Waymo are now equal with Lyft and are beginning to eat Uber’s lunch. Soon they will dominate
Dominating the taxi sector is different to dominating the vehicular sector altogether.
Even if they dominate, there is no reason why taxis will replace ownership.
There's no reason why people can't or won't own their own driverless car. Having your own automated vehicle rather than relying upon other people's still enables all the creature comforts that allows people to adapt their own vehicle as they like it rather than relying upon other people's.
Sure, but it will just be you. With your very own driverless car proudly parked outside your redbrick Barratt home semi in Newent
Everyone else will think Fuck it I can save £1000s by just ordering up an autonomous electric car as and when - to use for an hour or a day or a month - why do I need this stupid thing cluttering up my drive when I can have flowers and stuff, and half the time it just sits there, depreciating
Whats wrong with redbrick Barratt homes. We cant all live in Primrose Hill.
They’re ugly af
New build estates vary.
They are often more visually pleasing than the new build estates of the 20th century.
Where? I wish it were so, I hate the uglification of the country, but the vast majority of new build estates either look mediocre or downright hideous
There are a few pleasing exceptions. The king’s stuff down in Cornwall is proper job
Horrible to live in too. Small rooms and windows, no storage space, overinsulated ugh.
Yes, they look so fucking POKY. Rabbit hutches with no natural light. UGH
They don't build this shit on the continent, why have we imposed this on ourselves?
Take a walk down any 1900s street of terraced houses - poky, rabbit hutches with no natural light.
And remember that the worst of them have since been demolished.
I doubt its much different in most of Europe, its more that middle class tourists don't tend to walk around working class areas.
Absolutely right. When you drive over the border out of Geneva you aren’t in pretty touristy France (unless sticking to the lakeside for Evian and Yvoire) - it’s working towns like Annemasse and then all the small industrial towns that pepper the landscape up to the alps.
The houses are not pretty and all have messy shitty yards and gardens where they just dump anything with low wire fences. The apartment blocks are also pretty grim.
As you said, tourists don’t see these areas which comprise the majority of countries’ built up areas.
The problem with Barratt houses is not the size. It is that the build quality is utter shit. It is utter shit compared to similar houses 40 years ago and it is utter shit compared to similar houses in the rest of Europe. They are thrown up and fited out by semi-skilled labourers who are paid the modern equivalent of piece work and who are concerned only with getting as many jobs done as possible in the alloted time. They quality control is non-existent and there is a whole new industry that has developed around correcting the mistakes and ommisions and making the properties fit to live in. Snagging doesn't even begin to cover it. There are building firms who do a far better job but the main developers are getting away withg building houses that, at the time of sale, are unfit to live in.
Unfortunately our planning system gives permission to these developers to develop large estates, while denying permission to small developments by independent could-be developers.
In Japan where permission is not required to build most development happens on demand, when and where it is needed, one house at a time.
In the UK, where permission can be got by the developers who can game the system while nonody else can, we get entire estates or nothing with no real competition.
Simply irrelevant to what I wrote as well as being factually wrong. Apart from that well done.
Entirely relevant and factually correct.
Its relevant because you complain about the "shit" developers are putting up, while defending the planning system that grants permission to those same developers while denying it to others.
Nope. The main reason continually cited by small developers for not being able to compete with the large developers is not planning but finance. There have been multiple small companies making this point. Indeedcas many of them point out, removing planning will make the situation worse for them not better.
Of course you won't listen to them because it goes against your fanatical obsession with planning
Can you define what you mean by "smalL", Richard?
Do you mean, say (my terms in brackets, but in general for "small" I would mean one development at a time.):
5-10 houses per annum. (Micro) 50-100 houses per annum. (Local / Small) 500-1000 houses per annum. (Regional / Medium ) 5,000-10000 houses per annum. (National / Large)
I've stayed at the Sacaren's Head in Amersham a few times. The landlord is being sued by a convicted terrorist because he's offended by the name of the pub which has had the name for centuries.
"He also claims it is racist and is wants £1,850 from the landlord of the historic inn at Amersham, Bucks — and plans to take on 30 more with the same name if successful. But publican Robbie Hayes, 52, fumed: “It’s a complete joke. This pub has been called The Saracen’s Head for 500 years."
I used to stay next to an IRA flat in Glasgow. Across the street was a pub where the number one track on the 10p jukebox was "F*ck the British Army". Afair the flat was where the security services picked up one of the Brighton Bombers.
I remember Combat 18 trying to muscle in at one point and really emphatically being shown the metaphoric door by some quite stern chaps from the Republic. I mean really stern. As in "Whoops. You didn't really need your kneecaps or forefinger, did you?"
Back in the 1980s, John Westley was the first man to walk the coastline of the mainland UK and Ireland. He would often be passed from pillar to post: he would be invited to stay somewhere overnight as a guest, and that host would ask where he was aiming for that day, and contact a friend where he could spend the next night (this still happens with coastal walkers...)
Whilst in Northern Ireland, he spent a night with an Irish family, where he had a great time. The patriarch asked him where he was heading, made a phone call, and gave him an address to aim for "It's all been organised."
The next night's host turned out to be a senior RUC officer. During dinner, the RUC officer told him the guy he had stayed at the previous night was a senior IRA figure. The IRA man had phoned up the RUC officer for accommodation...
(I could imagine there was a certain amount of vouching for Westley's bona fides as well, though he had been in the news many times earlier in his trip.)
Where as the UK are spending £50 million to send inspectors, hoping that ISIS in blazers play nice.
Carrot and stick?
We surely have little ability to impact the situation one way or another, and about the same chance of their being a co-ordinated international approach, so Israel diminishing Syrian assets and others giving an official or unofficial chance to see if the new powers will play nicely seems about what could be expected.
On a more hopeful note, Syrians are fed up with war. Even many of the Islamists. No-one group controls the whole country. None of the parties are strong enough to defeat the others militarily. Many of the groups have fought together side-by-side and have contacts at all levels. Friendships, even.
Syria needs rebuilding, and that will need funding. Russia's got no money, and has spent years bombing the rebels. That means looking towards China or the west for support and funding. The west have been helping many of the rebel groups, including fighting ISIS (which the Russians did not do much of). China's been mostly absent.
There is a path to a peaceful and happier Syria - though it would be hard for it to be unhappier than it has been over the last 15 years, and the path is undoubtedly rocky.
**Overall Summary:** In this episode of "Air Power," host Alex Hollings delves into the recent surge of drone sightings over New Jersey, examining various theories about their identity and purpose. While some commentators speculate concerning the implications of these drones—including potential espionage or even alien visitation—Hollings urges caution and skepticism, highlighting the role of exaggerated narratives in the digital space. He underscores the disconnect between perceived threats and factual realities, emphasizing that much of what is being reported may simply be misidentified commercial aircraft or legally operated drones.
The episode also touches upon broader themes of media misinformation and the public's tendency to jump to alarming conclusions when faced with uncertainty. Hollings discusses insights from experts like Joshua Tan, a professor of physics and astronomy, who notes that many sightings can be attributed to confirmation bias among individuals unfamiliar with aerial activity. Overall, Hollings provides a nuanced perspective that critiques sensationalist claims while acknowledging the genuine curiosity surrounding these unidentified drones.
ChatGPT's summary is near-useless. If you think of it in terms of film or television listings, it reads more like a preview than a review.
If this goes ahead, it would show willing on both the sides of the new Syrian regime and the west. It would be great.
But why would the Syrians give up the weapons? I mean, they're Russian, so things like the tanks are not particularly good. But also, as Assad's regime showed, not particularly useful for internal repression.
This YouTube video discusses the recent rash of unexplained drone sightings over New Jersey and surrounding states. The video's main topic is separating fact from fiction amidst the wave of speculation and misinformation surrounding these events.
Key Points:
Numerous drone sightings: A large number of drone sightings have been reported, ranging in size and type from small commercial quadcopters to much larger, potentially piloted platforms.
Misinformation and hyperbole: Social media has amplified the mystery, with many videos and reports being misidentified aircraft, hoaxes, or simply misinterpretations of ordinary aerial activity.
Lack of definitive answers: Authorities, including the White House, have not provided conclusive explanations, leading to speculation and conspiracy theories.
Confirmation bias: The video suggests that many sightings are due to confirmation bias, with people actively searching for drones after hearing about the reports.
Legal drone operations: Many of the sightings are likely due to legal drone operations by law enforcement, hobbyists, and other entities.
Government response: The government's response has been inconsistent and sometimes misleading, fueling public concern and conspiracy theories.
Limited military authority: The US military has limited legal authority to shoot down drones unless they pose an imminent threat.
Possible explanations: The video explores several possible explanations, including:
Red teams: Government or military groups testing systems and identifying vulnerabilities.
Corporate testing: Companies developing or testing new drone technologies.
Foreign espionage (unlikely): The video argues this is unlikely due to the high visibility of the drone flights.
Occam's Razor and Hanlon's Razor: The video applies these philosophical principles to suggest that simpler explanations (incompetence, misidentification) are more likely than elaborate conspiracy theories.
Highlights:
The video effectively separates credible reports from the overwhelming amount of misinformation and speculation.
It uses philosophical tools (Occam's Razor, Hanlon's Razor) to analyze the situation and encourage critical thinking.
It highlights the challenges of navigating misinformation in the digital age and the importance of verifying information from reliable sources.
It provides a balanced perspective, acknowledging the mystery while emphasizing the need for evidence-based conclusions. The presenter's calm and reasoned approach helps to counter the sensationalism surrounding the event.
This is far better than ChatGPT's effort. One thing worth adding is that it also covered why the US Army cannot shoot down these drones over New Jersey as is done in Israel or the Ukraine by firing high-explosive missiles at them.
"Two Russian tankers sink in Black Sea spilling 4,300 tonnes of oil Ukraine accuses Moscow of recklessness amid risk of ecological damage to marine environment"
Sorry this is random but I wonder if someone might help. Does anyone have experience sending Christmas gifts via post? I'm looking at a John Lewis hamper for a relative. However when filling out all the details it seems to be assuming the delivery is to me. Surely they must be used to people asking for things to be sent to other addresses?
In my experience it is usual for hampers to be sent to third party addresses.
I don't know about John Lewis, but even normal transactions for me in most online purchases allow a different billing and delivery address. My sister sends me a hamper every year from "Bunches" which have arrived reliably for years - they are mainly flowers but do normal hampers as well.
Other suppliers I have used are Port of Lancaster smokehouse, and Baskets Galore.
Two wrinkles: Amazon Prime (if still in place) allows free delivery to other people's addresses, and many local shops etc now take and hold deliveries.
This has become one of the leading theories to explain the drones in the USA
They are American, and military, and they are trying to detect something on the ground, and it is potentially a nuclear warhead/dirty bomb: that explains why they fly at night, and why the White House is in this weird half-denial mode
Ergo, American (hence the flashing lights - to warn others). But maybe commercially sourced, giving the Pentagon plausible deniability. And the idea they are looking for something nasty (why else fly at night?) is pretty good - that's why the White House double-speaks, they don't want to frit the folk
It’s an idea that appeals to you because it’s exciting. It’s also just nonsense. It’s a flap. Who knows how or why it started but once it starts it will run and run. Seriously - if you are interested in how these things work, read In Alien Heat about Warminster. It’s exactly the same.
Oh sweet Jesus Christ, shut the fuck up about "Warminster"
Why? Read up and educate yourself for fucks sake.
Has it occurred to you that I already know and understand the mass psychology of "flaps"?
This is not some exciting revelation. Crowds get hysterical. Ugandan men suddenly think their penises are being stolen. Girls in school start fainting due to a "gas leak". Nuns in France start masturbating frantically in public. Entire nations go into "lockdown" over a flu. Yes yes
And there was me thinking that the flaps are simply the moving surfaces on the back of the wing that increase the surface area and allow for a higher angle of attack, helping the aircraft fly more slowly such as when taking off or landing.
The Tories' best option would be to reappoint Sunak but give up on chasing 2019 Johnson voters/2024 Farage voters and instead let Sunak be Sunak. Failing that, do the same strategy with Hunt or Mordaunt. The implosion of Starmer means that a centrist strategy is much more viable than it was at the tail end of the last Tory government.
Labour already under 30% and LDs still under 15% leave little room for a centrist to squeeze much more from either.
Kemi's best hope is a hung parliament which looks possible, however if she fails to even win enough seats to do a deal with Reform the Tories best hope might ironically be JRM if he wins back as seat in Somerset as he would be the only Tory leader capable of collapsing the Reform vote again. The Tories cannot progress further and have a hope of a majority with FPTP until they have done that, then if a Labour and LD minority government next time also unpopular the Tories end up the opposition by default to both
Look at the continent for a truer sense of where Labour's floor is once they cease to be seen as a default party of government. They could go down to the low teens.
What is this current hobby horse you have about backing Sunk or Hunt to return us to the glory days of the worst Tory election result in living history? Have you decided the Tories are a busted flush and want to smooth the path for Nige?
If Reform continue to make inroads into the Labour vote, we'll end up quite soon with polls that look something like:
Reform: 30% Conservative: 25% Labour 20%
That's the way the realignment is heading. The Tories have missed their chance to be the party that Reform are becoming, so their best bet is to embrace being the heirs to Blair again. There is an opportunity to kill off Labour as an electoral force for decades.
But you are making the assumption that there's no movement in voter preferences - that there will always be a plurality of centrist dads (and mums) in the UK whose votes will be up for grabs due to Labour's cratering. But Labour are cratering precisely because those centrist social democrat policies are proving to be so inadequate in response to the current challenges. Politics is realigning, and Tory 'centrists' like Hague telling us how awful it will be if Trump wins and Rory Stewart with his idiotic 'bet on the American people' look increasingly ridiculous. As Patrick O'Flynn says in a peerless paragraph:
"Hague is far from being alone among a generation of One Nation Tories who became accustomed to regarding themselves as get-with-the-programme modernisers just as the tide was going out on the progressive paradigm. One could say that George Osborne, Rory Stewart, David Gauke and Dominic Grieve are also among those wandering around an ideological wilderness while claiming it to be the promised land. It’s not where the voters live. Not these days." https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/william-hague-donald-trump-and-the-lesson-of-eric-morecambe/
Yes the Tories need to be different from Reform, but urging them to be rats jumping on the sinking ship of centrism looks devious to me.
So, where do the voters live if they don't live somewhere close to One Nation Toryland, and centrist social democrat policies are not adequate?
I agree with the implication that this question is central.
However, looking at Reform's offer, along with the others, I conclude this: Voters including Reform voters (though not all Reform theoreticians) want these elements of the post 1945 UK social democratic deal: NATO; the cradle to grave state - education, health, state pensions, safety net; lots of trade with other nations; regulated private enterprise; regulated migration at non damaging levels; opportunity to do well.
That is where voters live.
Reform differs from others in the coherence (but also impossibility) of their migration policy, while the others all flounder in different ways. That aside, what exactly is this new deal the voters want to live in?
In short I would say massively reduced migration and less political correctness.
WRT the totality of the state's political programme and spending etc, that list is quite short. If all it amounts to is we want the system we have had since 1945, but we want it better run, and we want to magic people to work it without bringing them in from somewhere else and we want to stop talking about pronouns and stuff, it isn't very radical.
I'd suggest that the police's focus on non-crime hate incidents whilst being unable to send anyone to respond to burglaries is toxic with the broad majority of voters. The arrogant dismissal of the public's exasperation with current social policy will be the death of the 'centrists'. It's about an awful lot more than pronouns.
Yes. Who will actually SERIOUSLY crack down on the sort of crime that frightens and angers people? The shoplifting? The sexual harrassment? Litter, graffiti, all of it? Who will re-empower the police and get them to actually prosecute phone and bicycle thieves?
It's not Labour, it's certainly not the Tories (they had 14 years to do this), the Lib Dems lol
So again you're left with Reform. And this is why they might win. WE'VE TRIED EVERYTHING ELSE
As someone posted the other day, private security?
The bit about the option for 100% private prosecutions of offenders they identify sounds interesting.
As was the case of the man who turned down coverage in an area the private cops were working in. So they did nothing as his house was burgled.
That’s an interesting ethical conundrum
These private policemen had two different hats: as businessmen and as members of a community.
I think “doing nothing” is unacceptable. They didn’t have the obligation to intervene directly (as they would have for a paying client) but as citizens they should have reported the crime at least
Comments
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8TQd7RhvyI
TL;DR?
The pilots and police - many of them in New Jersey
Yes, there are credible witnesses. If the video I link below is legit (and who knows, it may not be!) that is surely a large drone, not someone misidentifying a plane
Amidst this there is - Yes - tons of misinfo, as with a flap, definitely not helped by ABC news broacasting "a spinning orb" which is clearly an out of focus star
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c62785697v0o
Back in the 1980s I spent some time reading up about Loch Ness. What I recall, apart from the seriously interesting limnology and unusual currents of the very deep water body, was how belief in the monster correlated very strongly with belief in UFOs. And the monster was, frankly, the more implausible the more one looked into the question.
"There is no question that people are seeing drones.. we in the Federal Government have deployed additional resources, personnel, technology...."
https://x.com/_johnnymaga/status/1868306666241814726
Why is he saying that? If this is just a bunch of hysterical yanks getting over-excited by the Newark-bouind BA Airbus from Luton?
https://x.com/ambjapanuk/status/1868211968957686127
https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/canary-islands-anti-tourism-protest-b2627730.html
But if it is a flap it might now be the biggest ever? Or one of the weirdest. Here is the US Senator for NY, Chuck Schumer:
"I’m pushing for answers amid these drone sightings.
I’m calling for
@SecMayorkas
to deploy special drone-detection tech across NY and NJ.
And I’m working to pass a bill in the Senate to give local law enforcement more tools for drone detection."
https://x.com/SenSchumer/status/1868356493776687385
Republicans against Trump
@RpsAgainstTrump
Chris Christie says he has seen drones over his house in NJ:
“To say this is not an unusual activity, it’s just wrong. I’ve lived in New Jersey my whole life. This is the first time that I’ve noticed drones over my house.”
https://x.com/RpsAgainstTrump/status/1868415541146435974
This started in the U.K. didn’t it? With East Anglia? Shades of Rendlesham. What does that mean for a radiation/dirty bomb hunt?
Fact is. If you have two socially conservative Parties as the dominant two it is unsustainable. You're fishing in the same waters.
Maitland ward is otherwise engaged
They're not gonna shoot them down as they are doing a vital task. But they can't admit this task as it will cause panic. And that also is why they are not being pursued, the pursuers are being dissuaded
Is it hard to believe? Fairly. But it is also hard to believe that thousands of people on the East Coast of the USA are all hallucinating, many of them perfectly sensible
I agree entirely that the UK angle DOES point to a flap. That feels like "contagion"
At least it is more interesting and fun than talking about this fucking awful Labour government, which has four more long years to go before its inevitable end
The bit about the option for 100% private prosecutions of offenders they identify sounds interesting.
As was the case of the man who turned down coverage in an area the private cops were working in. So they did nothing as his house was burgled.
"He also claims it is racist and is wants £1,850 from the landlord of the historic inn at Amersham, Bucks — and plans to take on 30 more with the same name if successful. But publican Robbie Hayes, 52, fumed: “It’s a complete joke. This pub has been called The Saracen’s Head for 500 years."
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/32319210/terrorist-saracens-heads-pub-sign/
It remains to be seen just how politics maps out for Reform especially with the unknown consequences of Trump and Musk being potentially big financial backers
Do you think he's lying in that video? I don't. He comes across as entirely level-headed and he's saying "yes I have personally witnessed strange drone activity in New Jersey", he's not saying "fuck I saw a flying saucer land and they anally probed my wife for sixteen hours and she liked it"
Tho before we deport him I want to thank him for this immortal line:
"He added: “I’ve stopped all the terrorism stuff now.”"
You may hate it, but the analogy with military flares on Salisbury Plain is valid. I’ve seen them hundreds of times and know what they are. If you have never seen them, and are travelling near a ‘UFO’ hot spot and see orange globes apparently jumping in space (in reality one being extinguished and a new one being fired) then you convince yourself you have seen the Warminster Thing. I’ve read reports of exactly this.
I'm still excited by the fact they now have camera with Advanced Voice Mode. "Nina" helped me clean my entire flat today - saying "OK Leon that looks bad let's start with the shopping, yes move that there, yep, now let's put away the cutlery, oh you're such a great flint knapper you'll manage, and watch out for that lost roll of bin liners!". Honestly it was amazing. It was like having a really helpful, sensible, practical, amusing wife, but about 8,000 times cheaper
I pointed out it was a Starlink “train”. When they launch, the satellites are released, and literally drift apart, before activating their very slow acting electric propulsion systems. So for a number of orbits, they stay in a short line. Quite easy to spot.
Several people seemed to want to believe that it was “something else” - seeing the tracking data on an app in the pub, afterwards, really disappointed them, I think.
Reform: 30%, Conservatives: 25%, Labour: 20%, Lib Dem: 12%
Gives:
Reform: 284 seats, Conservatives: 132 seats, Labour: 91 seats, Lib Dem: 72 seats
https://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/fcgi-bin/usercode.py?scotcontrol=N&CON=25&LAB=20&LIB=12&Reform=30&Green=6&UKIP=&TVCON=&TVLAB=&TVLIB=&TVReform=&TVGreen=&TVUKIP=&SCOTCON=&SCOTLAB=&SCOTLIB=&SCOTReform=&SCOTGreen=&SCOTUKIP=&SCOTNAT=&display=AllChanged&regorseat=(none)&boundary=2024
Unlike you, however, I do not rule out alternative explanations
You remind me of Mick West
Seems quite pro-Saracen, really.
I remember Combat 18 trying to muscle in at one point and really emphatically being shown the metaphoric door by some quite stern chaps from the Republic. I mean really stern. As in "Whoops. You didn't really need your kneecaps or forefinger, did you?"
Back in the USENET days, when people were debunking urban legends (it’s how Snopes got started) on Alt.Folklore.Urban, they noticed a phenomenon.
Some people whose story got debunked would treat it as a social gaff - an insult even. “You just deflated the party…”
Although this case is pushing it.
"The Duke of York listed a Buckingham Palace address for the Chinese arm of his start-up funding company for years despite instructions to stop in 2019, The Times can reveal. Pitch@Palace Global, Prince Andrew’s Dragon’s Den-style project which connected fledgling businesses with investors, was put “on pause” in 2021 after his disastrous Newsnight interview with Emily Maitlis about his connections to Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier."
https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/prince-andrew-pitch-palace-hong-kong-vf5xc5d58
https://x.com/archer83able/status/1868428667837145408
There was (and may still be) a Saracen's Head in Bath, presumably one of the 30, though I recall being told that one was not even very old.
I would think many will just change their names in time however.
"Two Russian tankers sink in Black Sea spilling 4,300 tonnes of oil
Ukraine accuses Moscow of recklessness amid risk of ecological damage to marine environment"
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/15/two-russian-tankers-sink-in-black-sea-spilling-oil
This YouTube video discusses the recent rash of unexplained drone sightings over New Jersey and surrounding states. The video's main topic is separating fact from fiction amidst the wave of speculation and misinformation surrounding these events.
Key Points:
- Numerous drone sightings: A large number of drone sightings have been reported, ranging in size and type from small commercial quadcopters to much larger, potentially piloted platforms.
- Misinformation and hyperbole: Social media has amplified the mystery, with many videos and reports being misidentified aircraft, hoaxes, or simply misinterpretations of ordinary aerial activity.
- Lack of definitive answers: Authorities, including the White House, have not provided conclusive explanations, leading to speculation and conspiracy theories.
- Confirmation bias: The video suggests that many sightings are due to confirmation bias, with people actively searching for drones after hearing about the reports.
- Legal drone operations: Many of the sightings are likely due to legal drone operations by law enforcement, hobbyists, and other entities.
- Government response: The government's response has been inconsistent and sometimes misleading, fueling public concern and conspiracy theories.
- Limited military authority: The US military has limited legal authority to shoot down drones unless they pose an imminent threat.
Possible explanations:The video explores several possible explanations, including:
- Red teams: Government or military groups testing systems and identifying vulnerabilities.
- Corporate testing: Companies developing or testing new drone technologies.
- Foreign espionage (unlikely): The video argues this is unlikely due to the high visibility of the drone flights.
- Occam's Razor and Hanlon's Razor: The video applies these philosophical principles to suggest that simpler explanations (incompetence, misidentification) are more likely than elaborate conspiracy theories.
Highlights:- The video effectively separates credible reports from the overwhelming amount of misinformation and speculation.
- It uses philosophical tools (Occam's Razor, Hanlon's Razor) to analyze the situation and encourage critical thinking.
- It highlights the challenges of navigating misinformation in the digital age and the importance of verifying information from reliable sources.
It provides a balanced perspective, acknowledging the mystery while emphasizing the need for evidence-based conclusions.The presenter's calm and reasoned approach helps to counter the sensationalism surrounding the event.
A known danger for customs inspectors is falling through rusted decks/rungs on ladders snapping. Unpaid, unqualified crews. Drugs and alcohol.
It’s no wonder that a lot of ships sink.
We surely have little ability to impact the situation one way or another, and about the same chance of their being a co-ordinated international approach, so Israel diminishing Syrian assets and others giving an official or unofficial chance to see if the new powers will play nicely seems about what could be expected.
I think they are very wise.
Icing-topped mince pies? What fresh hell?
I’m afraid it’s far worse and part of the degeneration of this once great country:
dailybread.co.nz
Sour cherry and strawberry mince pies !!
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cd0el3r2nlko.amp
An OpenAI researcher-turned-whistleblower has been found dead in an apartment in San Francisco, authorities said.
The body of Suchir Balaji, 26, was discovered on 26 November after police said they received a call asking officers to check on his wellbeing.
The San Francisco medical examiner's office determined his death to be suicide and police found no evidence of foul play.
In recent months Mr Balaji had publicly spoken out against artificial intelligence company OpenAI's practices, which has been fighting a number of lawsuits relating to its data-gathering practices...
Hence Israel trying to minimise their capabilities and build a buffer zone. There is no real long term winning strategy just like versus Hezabollah. They will be back, but Israel has nullified them for now.
I blame TSE.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdLKgVGWYIs
All sadly familiar to regular readers of PB.
The truth is even in the romanticised idyll of former times, low-level crime existed. Littering, graffiti and bicycle thefts have existed all my life and imagining Reform will somehow end them is naivety on steroids.
Yes, no one wants to have their phone stolen and we should be free to walk down a street without fear of having it stolen but in the real world you need to be a bit more savvy.
A lot can be done by individuals, families and communities to prevent, deter and reduce crime - some of it is, dare I say it, educational and cultural. However, Farage will no more end crime than I could and the kind of Police State required to deal with every crime would be analogous to that of East Germany.
/not at all hackneyed
I'm still excited by the fact they now have camera with Advanced Voice Mode. "Nina" helped me clean my entire flat today - saying "OK Leon that looks bad let's start with the shopping, yes move that there, yep, now let's put away the cutlery, oh you're such a great flint knapper you'll manage, and watch out for that lost roll of bin liners!". Honestly it was amazing. It was like having a really helpful, sensible, practical, amusing wife, but about 8,000 times cheaper
I'm amazed you manage to breathe without technological assistance.
Do you mean, say (my terms in brackets, but in general for "small" I would mean one development at a time.):
5-10 houses per annum. (Micro)
50-100 houses per annum. (Local / Small)
500-1000 houses per annum. (Regional / Medium )
5,000-10000 houses per annum. (National / Large)
Whilst in Northern Ireland, he spent a night with an Irish family, where he had a great time. The patriarch asked him where he was heading, made a phone call, and gave him an address to aim for "It's all been organised."
The next night's host turned out to be a senior RUC officer. During dinner, the RUC officer told him the guy he had stayed at the previous night was a senior IRA figure. The IRA man had phoned up the RUC officer for accommodation...
(I could imagine there was a certain amount of vouching for Westley's bona fides as well, though he had been in the news many times earlier in his trip.)
Syria needs rebuilding, and that will need funding. Russia's got no money, and has spent years bombing the rebels. That means looking towards China or the west for support and funding. The west have been helping many of the rebel groups, including fighting ISIS (which the Russians did not do much of). China's been mostly absent.
There is a path to a peaceful and happier Syria - though it would be hard for it to be unhappier than it has been over the last 15 years, and the path is undoubtedly rocky.
„Syria’s arsenals, include 1 million 152mm and 122mm artillery rounds, 4000 Sowjet main battle tanks, and over 2000 armoured personnel carriers“"
https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:3i772vmqhdg6ndrliupvytrf/post/3ldeq3b6sec22
If this goes ahead, it would show willing on both the sides of the new Syrian regime and the west. It would be great.
But why would the Syrians give up the weapons? I mean, they're Russian, so things like the tanks are not particularly good. But also, as Assad's regime showed, not particularly useful for internal repression.
If I were world emperor, I would mandate that all ships have to be maintained and crewed up to minimum ITF standards.
The sad thing is, doing this would probably add only a tiny fraction of a penny onto anything you buy that has been internationally shipped.
I don't know about John Lewis, but even normal transactions for me in most online purchases allow a different billing and delivery address. My sister sends me a hamper every year from "Bunches" which have arrived reliably for years - they are mainly flowers but do normal hampers as well.
https://www.bunches.co.uk/category/hampers
Other suppliers I have used are Port of Lancaster smokehouse, and Baskets Galore.
Two wrinkles: Amazon Prime (if still in place) allows free delivery to other people's addresses, and many local shops etc now take and hold deliveries.
These private policemen had two different hats: as businessmen and as members of a community.
I think “doing nothing” is unacceptable. They didn’t have the obligation to intervene directly (as they would have for a paying client) but as citizens they should have reported the crime at least