Does anyone here know the price of a loaf of bread?
No. I'd guess about a quid, but I couldn't be certain about that. Weird, as despite a recent promotion making me feel otherwise, temporarily, I've always been poor.
Milk I do know seems to have gone down in price in recent years at least, as I'm always picking up 4 pints for a pound.
Is milk less expensive than bread?! Geez, I would've thought it was more because it's heavier. That's how scientific I am. I regularly roll out of Tescos with £90 of shopping and then three days later find my fridge is empty. I'm awful with money.
That money-saver-expert guy Martin Lewis (is it?) was on R5 a while back saying the average person can save thousands each year by boxing clever in supermarkets. I'd believe it!
I honestly couldn't tell you how much my gas or electric is or how much my mortgage is. I have a bills account, I cover the overall amount each month and it's out of sight, out of mind.
I bet I could save a fortune shopping around.
And lol @Tim at Cameron's £150,000 windmill. My neighbour (who is an odd bugger with the best garden in the universe and who plays the trumpet, awfully) recently installed those solar panels on his roof. He's hoping here in the valleys. It rains all the time.
Anyway, back to the McBride book, which I'm enjoying.
Comrade Alan! You should know that was during the dark days of 1941 when the Fascists took the Motherland by surprise! Fortunately by the time of Kursk (1943), the Red Air Force had virtually complete air superiority!
Next you'll be saying the Spitfire was a better plane than the Yakovlev Yak-3!
Sunil you prize Zek. The Red Air Force only established air superiority post Kursk and that had little to do with their proficiency and everything to do with the RAF and USAAF taking control of the skies over Germany. The eastern front remained a training area for the Luftwaffe while the russkis tried to crack the conundrum of why aircraft with no maintenance wouldn't stay in the sky.
Comrade Alan!
"[The Yak-3] proved a formidable dogfighter. Marcel Albert, the official top-scoring World War II French ace, who flew the Yak in USSR with the Normandie-Niémen Group, considered it a superior aircraft to the P-51D Mustang and the Supermarine Spitfire.[3]"
arf a top scoring french ace that must rank up there with a crack Italian general. And 15 of his 23 his kills were "shared" ie a russian did the work. I assume the other 8 were sat on the ground or his own side dropping from the sky in poorly maintained aircraft :-)
Does anyone here know the price of a loaf of bread?
No. I'd guess about a quid, but I couldn't be certain about that. Weird, as despite a recent promotion making me feel otherwise, temporarily, I've always been poor.
Milk I do know seems to have gone down in price in recent years at least, as I'm always picking up 4 pints for a pound.
Milk seems to be 89p for two pints (1.1 litres) everywhere (Sainsburys/Tesco/Asda).
Bread made in-store £1.30 to £1.40 for an 800 gram loaf. Cheaper for the own-brand pre-packed bread, 70-80p.
Mr. Labour, as an aside, it's interesting to consider how conscription would work if we faced such a need.
Good evening, Comrades!
Lydia Litvyak was perhaps the most successful of thousands of female fighter pilots in the Red Air Force fighting against the sexist Nazis during the Great Patriotic War. Her victory tally was 12 before being tragically shot down during the Battle of Kursk in 1943.
But the sexist Nazis didn't have any female aces though, did they? (Hanna Reitsch aside, though she didn't really see any combat).
Parteigenosse Prasannan
The Luftwaffe employed its lady pilots in support roles, thereby freeing up male fliers.Despite the huge tallies German aces scored on the Eastern Front the Soviet state remains the single biggest destroyer of soviet pilots and planes. The USSR lost about 50% of its aircraft through poor maintenanace and negligent pilot training.
Aeroflot hasn't improved the ratio much either.
Once had an internal flight with Aeorflot in Soviet times. We "landed" so hard in Baku that the light fittings crashed to the floor and the plane bounced several feet back into the air. We then had to stay in our seats until the "pilot" (I use the word loosely) and his crew had left the plane because their time was more important.
Like most things I saw in the Soviet Union I found this very funny, something that did not always endear me to the locals.
While the price of a single pint of milk is 49p in a shop (but significantly more for anyone who still gets it from a milkman) there is no such thing as a standard loaf of bread, pint of beer, litre of fuel etc.
All anyone can say is "I pay x for Y". Though if anyone is only buying one type of anything these days they must be pretty unusual.
Does anyone here know the price of a loaf of bread?
No. I'd guess about a quid, but I couldn't be certain about that. Weird, as despite a recent promotion making me feel otherwise, temporarily, I've always been poor.
Milk I do know seems to have gone down in price in recent years at least, as I'm always picking up 4 pints for a pound.
Milk seems to be 89p for two pints (1.1 litres) everywhere (Sainsburys/Tesco/Asda).
Bread made in-store £1.30 to £1.40 for an 800 gram loaf. Cheaper for the own-brand pre-packed bread, 70-80p.
89p for two pints, but definitely only 1 pound for 4pts in most places round my way- for my sins, I am responsible for supplying the work teams tea and coffee supplies. Someone's losing money on that deal if those prices are normal.
Coffee btw way is absurdly expensive - you'd think it was all the super rare kind that's excreted from a Civet. Though personally most coffee tastes like it comes from the rear of an animal to me, but for my poor exploited coffee drinking brethren are really getting screwed. Do coffee bean slave workers get paid less than tea picking slave workers I wonder? I'll try not to think about it.
Josiah Jessop said "Treat the following with care: The perils of combat after D-Day are very overstated. ISTR that of all the British soldiers sent to France, and later Germany, only 1 in 3 got to fire their gun (or weapon) in anger. Most were performing logistical and other tasks. Basically, we swamped the defenders. For the Americans, the figures were higher than 1 in 3."
Attrition rates for those in battle in the Battle for Normandy were similar to the First World War. It was such a short campaign that this is not fully appreciated.
"[The Yak-3] proved a formidable dogfighter. Marcel Albert, the official top-scoring World War II French ace, who flew the Yak in USSR with the Normandie-Niémen Group, considered it a superior aircraft to the P-51D Mustang and the Supermarine Spitfire.[3]"
arf a top scoring french ace that must rank up there with a crack Italian general. And 15 of his 23 his kills were "shared" ie a russian did the work. I assume the other 8 were sat on the ground or his own side dropping from the sky in poorly maintained aircraft :-)
Comrade!
"With the failure of Zitadelle [the German offensive initiating Kursk] we have suffered a decisive defeat. The armoured formations, reformed and re-equipped with so much effort, had lost heavily in both men and equipment and would now be unemployable for a long time to come. It was problematical whether they could be rehabilitated in time to defend the Eastern Front... Needless to say the Russians exploited their victory to the full. There were to be no more periods of quiet on the Eastern Front. From now on, the enemy was in undisputed possession of the initiative."[261] — Heinz Guderian
Mr. Labour, as an aside, it's interesting to consider how conscription would work if we faced such a need.
Good evening, Comrades!
Lydia Litvyak was perhaps the most successful of thousands of female fighter pilots in the Red Air Force fighting against the sexist Nazis during the Great Patriotic War. Her victory tally was 12 before being tragically shot down during the Battle of Kursk in 1943.
But the sexist Nazis didn't have any female aces though, did they? (Hanna Reitsch aside, though she didn't really see any combat).
Parteigenosse Prasannan
The Luftwaffe employed its lady pilots in support roles, thereby freeing up male fliers.Despite the huge tallies German aces scored on the Eastern Front the Soviet state remains the single biggest destroyer of soviet pilots and planes. The USSR lost about 50% of its aircraft through poor maintenanace and negligent pilot training.
Aeroflot hasn't improved the ratio much either.
Once had an internal flight with Aeorflot in Soviet times. We "landed" so hard in Baku that the light fittings crashed to the floor and the plane bounced several feet back into the air. We then had to stay in our seats until the "pilot" (I use the word loosely) and his crew had left the plane because their time was more important.
Like most things I saw in the Soviet Union I found this very funny, something that did not always endear me to the locals.
My "favourite" Cold War flight was a Balkan (Bulgarian) Air flight to Sofia. As we left Heathrow the flight attendant announced that "Part of this flight is over water, but due to the excellent construction of this aircraft you will not need life-jackets."
Financial Times @FT UK mortage lenders' misgivings on flagship 'Help to Buy' scheme. Only RBS and Lloyds have signed up for latest round http://on.ft.com/1hiOTYP
Well Lloyds and RBoS account between them for 33% of the UK mortgage lending market.
And as the BoE has announced today that their impending stress tests on UK bank balance sheets may result in regulatory requirements for additional capital I suspect other banks will fall in line quickly.
Still it is a voluntary scheme, tim. If banks don't wish to participate they don't have to. The UK is not a socialist state yet.
But the sexist Nazis didn't have any female aces though, did they? (Hanna Reitsch aside, though she didn't really see any combat).
Parteigenosse Prasannan
The Luftwaffe employed its lady pilots in support roles, thereby freeing up male fliers.Despite the huge tallies German aces scored on the Eastern Front the Soviet state remains the single biggest destroyer of soviet pilots and planes. The USSR lost about 50% of its aircraft through poor maintenanace and negligent pilot training.
Aeroflot hasn't improved the ratio much either.
Once had an internal flight with Aeorflot in Soviet times. We "landed" so hard in Baku that the light fittings crashed to the floor and the plane bounced several feet back into the air. We then had to stay in our seats until the "pilot" (I use the word loosely) and his crew had left the plane because their time was more important.
Like most things I saw in the Soviet Union I found this very funny, something that did not always endear me to the locals.
My "favourite" Cold War flight was a Balkan (Bulgarian) Air flight to Sofia. As we left Heathrow the flight attendant announced that "Part of this flight is over water, but due to the excellent construction of this aircraft you will not need life-jackets."
arf a top scoring french ace that must rank up there with a crack Italian general.
Clostermann was the real deal, plus he wrote one of the best books there is on air combat.
Just checked the list of WWII aces on Wiki and the top 169 are Luftwaffe! Fkn hell..
More a reflection on poor soviet pilot training than german proficiency. The Soviets put pilots in the air and expected them to learn or die. Lots of them died. The Luftwaffe used the E. Front to "blood" new pilots against weak opposition. When the Germans subsequently transferred to the West and fought well-trained Brit or US pilots their advantage disappeared, ultimately they lost the air war in the West.
In Lidl 2litres of milk £1 100g of coffee £1.49 800g loaf of bread 50p-£1.50 own baked rolls most varieties 29p each Tomatoes between 99p and £1.49 a packet Red peppers 80p each 1 litre pure orange or apple juice 69p 2 litres ice cream 89p 250g butter 98p
I shop in Lidl every week and usually spend between £30 and £40 which usually includes £5-£10 on plants, growbags etc Also shop in Morrisons where spend £15-£25 per week.
With a little effort it is possible to purchase an entire week's shopping for 2 for under £50
arf a top scoring french ace that must rank up there with a crack Italian general.
Clostermann was the real deal, plus he wrote one of the best books there is on air combat.
Just checked the list of WWII aces on Wiki and the top 169 are Luftwaffe! Fkn hell..
More a reflection on poor soviet pilot training than german proficiency. The Soviets put pilots in the air and expected them to learn or die. Lots of them died. The Luftwaffe used the E. Front to "blood" new pilots against weak opposition. When the Germans subsequently transferred to the West and fought well-trained Brit or US pilots their advantage disappeared, ultimately they lost the air war in the West.
Historian Richard Overy makes the following observations [re. Kursk]:
The quality of the two air forces were even. The Soviets had introduced air-to-ground communications, radar, a proper maintenance system, and depots for forward fuel reserves. This allowed aircraft to fly twenty missions in the heat of the battle (while the Luftwaffe suffered shortages).[290][291] The Soviet tanks were not inferior in quality. Although the T-34 model (with its 76 mm main gun) was out-ranged by the German Tiger I and the Panther, the T-34 was faster and more manoeuvrable than the Tiger, and the latter had too many mechanical difficulties[292] at the Battle of Prokhorovka. To counter the Tiger tank, the Soviets used their tanks in a "hand-to-hand" combat role. Crews were ordered to close the distance so that range would not become an issue.[293] According to Glantz and House, the Soviet tanks pressed home their initial attacks despite significant German advantages: the range of the German tanks' 88 mm gun, German air superiority and attacking a well-dug-in enemy in flat rolling terrain. Even so, the loss ratio was less than 2:1 – 320 German and 400 Soviet AFVs.[29]
I would confidently state there is currently a lot more talent on the Tory Front bench than Labour, lot's more options Gove, May, Bojo, even Os is now looking the part. Who have Labour got Cooper comes second to May in the Commons, Umunna surely not, Balls, Burnham, no more needs saying. Who else the cupboard looks bare.
But this is entirely understandable, Labour has gone through a generation and a half of ministers. In thirteen years, anyone who was any good has risen and fallen. What's left is this lickspittle of an old tired regime.
Anyone who was any good got smeared and destroyed by their own vile party.
Along with a load of fairly rubbish lobby fodder too.
Does anyone here know the price of a loaf of bread?
No. I'd guess about a quid, but I couldn't be certain about that. Weird, as despite a recent promotion making me feel otherwise, temporarily, I've always been poor.
Milk I do know seems to have gone down in price in recent years at least, as I'm always picking up 4 pints for a pound.
Milk seems to be 89p for two pints (1.1 litres) everywhere (Sainsburys/Tesco/Asda).
Bread made in-store £1.30 to £1.40 for an 800 gram loaf. Cheaper for the own-brand pre-packed bread, 70-80p.
89p for two pints, but definitely only 1 pound for 4pts in most places round my way- for my sins, I am responsible for supplying the work teams tea and coffee supplies. Someone's losing money on that deal if those prices are normal.
Coffee btw way is absurdly expensive - you'd think it was all the super rare kind that's excreted from a Civet. Though personally most coffee tastes like it comes from the rear of an animal to me, but for my poor exploited coffee drinking brethren are really getting screwed. Do coffee bean slave workers get paid less than tea picking slave workers I wonder? I'll try not to think about it.
Whatever the rights and wrongs of Adolphe/Ralph EdM might be advised to be less vocal about defending his grandfather's treason.
Really? Interesting, I'll look forward to both the story and the defence.
We're coffee snobs on our Watch, we spend a fortune between us at the local farmers market or online. There's a bit of oneupmanship in who can bring in the most expensive, or exotic coffee. Or the most complicated coffee machine. We've tried Kopi Luwak (catshit coffee) a few times. It ain't worth the price we've paid!
I am concerned, ar. All calls to Cousin Seth in the past 24 hours have gone unanswered.
But I remain hopeful he is not involved. He has always eschewed offers of political office in the past and is most definitely not a democrat like Mark Senior.
arf a top scoring french ace that must rank up there with a crack Italian general.
Clostermann was the real deal, plus he wrote one of the best books there is on air combat.
Just checked the list of WWII aces on Wiki and the top 169 are Luftwaffe! Fkn hell..
More a reflection on poor soviet pilot training than german proficiency. The Soviets put pilots in the air and expected them to learn or die. Lots of them died. The Luftwaffe used the E. Front to "blood" new pilots against weak opposition. When the Germans subsequently transferred to the West and fought well-trained Brit or US pilots their advantage disappeared, ultimately they lost the air war in the West.
Certainly the bulk of those victories were Soviet aircraft, but its amazing the number of top Luftwaffe scorers that survived the war, even after transferring West. Suggests a certain proficiency.
Comrade Alan! You should know that was during the dark days of 1941 when the Fascists took the Motherland by surprise! Fortunately by the time of Kursk (1943), the Red Air Force had virtually complete air superiority!
Next you'll be saying the Spitfire was a better plane than the Yakovlev Yak-3!
Sunil you prize Zek. The Red Air Force only established air superiority post Kursk and that had little to do with their proficiency and everything to do with the RAF and USAAF taking control of the skies over Germany. The eastern front remained a training area for the Luftwaffe while the russkis tried to crack the conundrum of why aircraft with no maintenance wouldn't stay in the sky.
Comrade Alan!
"[The Yak-3] proved a formidable dogfighter. Marcel Albert, the official top-scoring World War II French ace, who flew the Yak in USSR with the Normandie-Niémen Group, considered it a superior aircraft to the P-51D Mustang and the Supermarine Spitfire.[3]"
Several things to say about that: it is comparing a plane introduced into service in 1944, with one introduced in service in 1938, at a time of rapid aeronautical evolution. Had Marcel Albert flown one of the comparable later Spitfire marks, such as the VIII or later, or an earlier version?
Besides, arguments over whether one plane was better than another is a rather dubious sport. So much depends on pilot training, maintenance and preference.
Also, by the time the Yak-3 was introduced, the Luftwaffe was in disarray. Combat was easier (although not easy) than it had been two years earlier.
We're coffee snobs on our Watch, we spend a fortune between us at the local farmers market or online. There's a bit of oneupmanship in who can bring in the most expensive, or exotic coffee. Or the most complicated coffee machine. We've tried Kopi Luwak (catshit coffee) a few times. It ain't worth the price we've paid!
You don't want to drink Kopi Luwak, apparently most of the civets are kept in captivity in appalling conditions, not least because they're not supposed to exist on a diet of coffee cherries. There was a recent BBC documentary about this which you can probably still find on the website. Also the cats digestive enzymes strip out a lot of the flavours that make coffee interesting - e.g. acidity and bitterness - and leave you with the sort of "smooth" coffee that is only thought to be good by those who don't really like coffee.
My favourite website at the moment is Hasbean and Monmouth Coffee Co in London is very good (Stoney Street, Southwark; Borough Market; and Monmouth Street, Seven Dials). From both you will get single-estate, single-variety coffee.
Got a letter from Boris tonight. Pretty sure I am not the only one but there we are.
What was slightly concerning (apart from yet another request for money) is that it is all about Ed and what he said. Having dominated the news agenda for so much of the summer the tories seem to have lost it entirely since Ed's speech and their conference (so far) is not bringing it back again. This is not healthy, especially for the party actually in office.
Mr. Labour, as an aside, it's interesting to consider how conscription would work if we faced such a need.
...
...
Evening, Comrade Alan!
But the sexist Nazis didn't have any female aces though, did they? (Hanna Reitsch aside, though she didn't really see any combat).
Parteigenosse Prasannan
The Luftwaffe employed its lady pilots in support roles, thereby freeing up male fliers.Despite the huge tallies German aces scored on the Eastern Front the Soviet state remains the single biggest destroyer of soviet pilots and planes. The USSR lost about 50% of its aircraft through poor maintenanace and negligent pilot training.
Aeroflot hasn't improved the ratio much either.
Once had an internal flight with Aeorflot in Soviet times. We "landed" so hard in Baku that the light fittings crashed to the floor and the plane bounced several feet back into the air. We then had to stay in our seats until the "pilot" (I use the word loosely) and his crew had left the plane because their time was more important.
Like most things I saw in the Soviet Union I found this very funny, something that did not always endear me to the locals.
Had many eventful flights on Aeroflot. Best was being told by a charming but officious trolly dolly to fasten my seat belts when the seat I was sitting in was not attached to the floor. I put the belts on then manoeuvred the chair into the aisle, causing that kind of reaction of resigned acceptance and stifled laughter so often observed in the USSR.
The only flight I have taken where the light fittings fell out was between John Lennon Memorial Airport in Liverpool and Dublin. The 14 seater was overbooked so one fare paying passenger had to sit in the cockpit. The one stewardess took to the loo on take off. There was no turbulence or other external shock: the lights fell out due to natural wear and tear.
I suspect we shall see more of this when rEd renationalises BA.
arf a top scoring french ace that must rank up there with a crack Italian general.
Clostermann was the real deal, plus he wrote one of the best books there is on air combat.
Just checked the list of WWII aces on Wiki and the top 169 are Luftwaffe! Fkn hell..
More a reflection one disappeared, ultimately they lost the air war in the West.
Historian Richard Overy makes the following observations [re. Kursk]:
The quality the battle (while the Luftwaffe suffered shortages).[290][291] The Soviet tanks were not inferior in quality. Although the T-34 model (with its 76 mm main gun) was out-ranged by the German Tiger I and the Panther, the T-34 was faster and more manoeuvrable than the Tiger, and the latter had too many mechanical difficulties[292] at the Battle of Prokhorovka. To counter the Tiger tank, the Soviets used their tanks in a "hand-to-hand" combat role. Crews were ordered to close the distance so that range would not become an issue.[293] According to Glantz and House, the Soviet tanks pressed home their initial attacks despite significant German advantages: the range of the German tanks' 88 mm gun, German air superiority and attacking a well-dug-in enemy in flat rolling terrain. Even so, the loss ratio was less than 2:1 – 320 German and 400 Soviet AFVs.[29]
next you'll be telling me the Soviets had introduced engines. Pilot for pilot the Luftwaffe kept it's superiority, tactically too. If the Germans could still fly obsolete junk like the Stuka in 1943 and the russians couldn't stop them so much for the Red Airforce. An entire soviet armour counterattack was wiped out by Henschel 129s before the German ground commander even knew the russians were there.
As for tanks the russians didn't make the grade much either except through massed attacks where casualties were no consideration. The german blitzkrieg wasn't stopped by soviet armour but by widescale use of anti-tank brigades of 45mm and 76mm AT guns.
arf a top scoring french ace that must rank up there with a crack Italian general.
Clostermann was the real deal, plus he wrote one of the best books there is on air combat.
Just checked the list of WWII aces on Wiki and the top 169 are Luftwaffe! Fkn hell..
More a reflection one disappeared, ultimately they lost the air war in the West.
Historian Richard Overy makes the following observations [re. Kursk]:
The quality the battle (while the Luftwaffe suffered shortages).[290][291] The Soviet tanks were not inferior in quality. Although the T-34 model (with its 76 mm main gun) was out-ranged by the German Tiger I and the Panther, the T-34 was faster and more manoeuvrable than the Tiger, and the latter had too many mechanical difficulties[292] at the Battle of Prokhorovka. To counter the Tiger tank, the Soviets used their tanks in a "hand-to-hand" combat role. Crews were ordered to close the distance so that range would not become an issue.[293] According to Glantz and House, the Soviet tanks pressed home their initial attacks despite significant German advantages: the range of the German tanks' 88 mm gun, German air superiority and attacking a well-dug-in enemy in flat rolling terrain. Even so, the loss ratio was less than 2:1 – 320 German and 400 Soviet AFVs.[29]
next you'll be telling me the Soviets had introduced engines. Pilot for pilot the Luftwaffe kept it's superiority, tactically too. If the Germans could still fly obsolete junk like the Stuka in 1943 and the russians couldn't stop them so much for the Red Airforce. An entire soviet armour counterattack was wiped out by Henschel 129s before the German ground commander even knew the russians were there.
As for tanks the russians didn't make the grade much either except through massed attacks where casualties were no consideration. The german blitzkrieg wasn't stopped by soviet armour but by widescale use of anti-tank brigades of 45mm and 76mm AT guns.
Your Fascism blinds you, Comrade Alan!
The gallant Russians actually won at Kursk - AND the Nazis couldn't mount another offensive on the Eastern Front.
Got a letter from Boris tonight. Pretty sure I am not the only one but there we are.
What was slightly concerning (apart from yet another request for money) is that it is all about Ed and what he said. Having dominated the news agenda for so much of the summer the tories seem to have lost it entirely since Ed's speech and their conference (so far) is not bringing it back again. This is not healthy, especially for the party actually in office.
Perhaps overreacting to the revelation that their 'Ed's too weak to be taken seriously' theme needed rehauling because of the government loss over Syria (not that Ed M really 'won' as such) and focusing too much on him as a dangerous (or idiotic) menace, and making him look powerful?
The Soviets won at Kursk of course but only because the idiot Hitler had dragged the US in to the fight in Europe. No US, no air superiority, no US no mobility for Soviet ground forces as that's were all their trucks came from.
I disagree, a real fear of Ed Miliband leading an 'Old Labour' style Government rather than as New Labour is about the strongest weapon the Conservatives have been handed to combat disgruntled Conservative voters toying with moving to UKIP. And the fact that its Miliband moving to the left rather than the Conservatives themselves being forced to move to the Right to counter the threat of UKIP is about one of the luckiest breaks Cameron and his team have been handed so far in this Parliament.
It will be interesting to see if the Conservative party sees a membership boost after this Conference season, and particularly from folk who have renewed their membership after letting it lapse over the last year or two.
One other observation. Jeremy Hunt was very impressive today, I would write this guy off as future contender in a Conservative Leadership contest. Its actually a very positive situation for a Governing party to see Minister's upping their game in the hope of being seen as future Leadership contenders.
Got a letter from Boris tonight. Pretty sure I am not the only one but there we are.
What was slightly concerning (apart from yet another request for money) is that it is all about Ed and what he said. Having dominated the news agenda for so much of the summer the tories seem to have lost it entirely since Ed's speech and their conference (so far) is not bringing it back again. This is not healthy, especially for the party actually in office.
Comments
That money-saver-expert guy Martin Lewis (is it?) was on R5 a while back saying the average person can save thousands each year by boxing clever in supermarkets. I'd believe it!
I honestly couldn't tell you how much my gas or electric is or how much my mortgage is. I have a bills account, I cover the overall amount each month and it's out of sight, out of mind.
I bet I could save a fortune shopping around.
And lol @Tim at Cameron's £150,000 windmill. My neighbour (who is an odd bugger with the best garden in the universe and who plays the trumpet, awfully) recently installed those solar panels on his roof. He's hoping here in the valleys. It rains all the time.
Anyway, back to the McBride book, which I'm enjoying.
Whatever the rights and wrongs of Adolphe/Ralph EdM might be advised to be less vocal about defending his grandfather's treason.
Bread made in-store £1.30 to £1.40 for an 800 gram loaf. Cheaper for the own-brand pre-packed bread, 70-80p.
'Dave spent £150,000 on reducing his energy bills in his house reportedly, so God only knows what he thinks his gas bill is.'
Fortunately we have Ed with his £2 million house,property empire & £400,000 mortgage as leader of the workers party.
прасаннан means Europhile.
While the price of a single pint of milk is 49p in a shop (but significantly more for anyone who still gets it from a milkman) there is no such thing as a standard loaf of bread, pint of beer, litre of fuel etc.
All anyone can say is "I pay x for Y". Though if anyone is only buying one type of anything these days they must be pretty unusual.
Coffee btw way is absurdly expensive - you'd think it was all the super rare kind that's excreted from a Civet. Though personally most coffee tastes like it comes from the rear of an animal to me, but for my poor exploited coffee drinking brethren are really getting screwed. Do coffee bean slave workers get paid less than tea picking slave workers I wonder? I'll try not to think about it. Really? Interesting, I'll look forward to both the story and the defence.
"Stalingrad was the end of the beginning, but the Battle of Kursk was the beginning of the end." — Winston Churchill
Josiah Jessop said
"Treat the following with care:
The perils of combat after D-Day are very overstated. ISTR that of all the British soldiers sent to France, and later Germany, only 1 in 3 got to fire their gun (or weapon) in anger. Most were performing logistical and other tasks. Basically, we swamped the defenders. For the Americans, the figures were higher than 1 in 3."
Attrition rates for those in battle in the Battle for Normandy were similar to the First World War. It was such a short campaign that this is not fully appreciated.
Just checked the list of WWII aces on Wiki and the top 169 are Luftwaffe! Fkn hell..
Redress here with the old gypsy romance sung by non other than Pyodor Shalyapin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAj3MqcF8E4
"With the failure of Zitadelle [the German offensive initiating Kursk] we have suffered a decisive defeat. The armoured formations, reformed and re-equipped with so much effort, had lost heavily in both men and equipment and would now be unemployable for a long time to come. It was problematical whether they could be rehabilitated in time to defend the Eastern Front... Needless to say the Russians exploited their victory to the full. There were to be no more periods of quiet on the Eastern Front. From now on, the enemy was in undisputed possession of the initiative."[261] — Heinz Guderian
And as the BoE has announced today that their impending stress tests on UK bank balance sheets may result in regulatory requirements for additional capital I suspect other banks will fall in line quickly.
Still it is a voluntary scheme, tim. If banks don't wish to participate they don't have to. The UK is not a socialist state yet.
2litres of milk £1
100g of coffee £1.49
800g loaf of bread 50p-£1.50
own baked rolls most varieties 29p each
Tomatoes between 99p and £1.49 a packet
Red peppers 80p each
1 litre pure orange or apple juice 69p
2 litres ice cream 89p
250g butter 98p
I shop in Lidl every week and usually spend between £30 and £40 which usually includes £5-£10 on plants, growbags etc
Also shop in Morrisons where spend £15-£25 per week.
With a little effort it is possible to purchase an entire week's shopping for 2 for under £50
The quality of the two air forces were even. The Soviets had introduced air-to-ground communications, radar, a proper maintenance system, and depots for forward fuel reserves. This allowed aircraft to fly twenty missions in the heat of the battle (while the Luftwaffe suffered shortages).[290][291]
The Soviet tanks were not inferior in quality. Although the T-34 model (with its 76 mm main gun) was out-ranged by the German Tiger I and the Panther, the T-34 was faster and more manoeuvrable than the Tiger, and the latter had too many mechanical difficulties[292] at the Battle of Prokhorovka. To counter the Tiger tank, the Soviets used their tanks in a "hand-to-hand" combat role. Crews were ordered to close the distance so that range would not become an issue.[293] According to Glantz and House, the Soviet tanks pressed home their initial attacks despite significant German advantages: the range of the German tanks' 88 mm gun, German air superiority and attacking a well-dug-in enemy in flat rolling terrain. Even so, the loss ratio was less than 2:1 – 320 German and 400 Soviet AFVs.[29]
Along with a load of fairly rubbish lobby fodder too.
Moral crusade my arse.
But I remain hopeful he is not involved. He has always eschewed offers of political office in the past and is most definitely not a democrat like Mark Senior.
Besides, arguments over whether one plane was better than another is a rather dubious sport. So much depends on pilot training, maintenance and preference.
Also, by the time the Yak-3 was introduced, the Luftwaffe was in disarray. Combat was easier (although not easy) than it had been two years earlier.
Having said all that, the Yak-3 was a nice plane.
My favourite website at the moment is Hasbean and Monmouth Coffee Co in London is very good (Stoney Street, Southwark; Borough Market; and Monmouth Street, Seven Dials). From both you will get single-estate, single-variety coffee.
What was slightly concerning (apart from yet another request for money) is that it is all about Ed and what he said. Having dominated the news agenda for so much of the summer the tories seem to have lost it entirely since Ed's speech and their conference (so far) is not bringing it back again. This is not healthy, especially for the party actually in office.
The only flight I have taken where the light fittings fell out was between John Lennon Memorial Airport in Liverpool and Dublin. The 14 seater was overbooked so one fare paying passenger had to sit in the cockpit. The one stewardess took to the loo on take off. There was no turbulence or other external shock: the lights fell out due to natural wear and tear.
I suspect we shall see more of this when rEd renationalises BA.
As for tanks the russians didn't make the grade much either except through massed attacks where casualties were no consideration. The german blitzkrieg wasn't stopped by soviet armour but by widescale use of anti-tank brigades of 45mm and 76mm AT guns.
The gallant Russians actually won at Kursk - AND the Nazis couldn't mount another offensive on the Eastern Front.
It will be interesting to see if the Conservative party sees a membership boost after this Conference season, and particularly from folk who have renewed their membership after letting it lapse over the last year or two.
One other observation. Jeremy Hunt was very impressive today, I would write this guy off as future contender in a Conservative Leadership contest. Its actually a very positive situation for a Governing party to see Minister's upping their game in the hope of being seen as future Leadership contenders.