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What is John Swinney’s secret? – politicalbetting.com

SystemSystem Posts: 12,729
edited 3:14PM in General
What is John Swinney’s secret? – politicalbetting.com

“Nobody knows the tactics I’m going to deploy if we get 65 seats in the Scottish Parliament.”John Swinney teases SNP conference with a secret plan. pic.twitter.com/3v4msSblwH

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Comments

  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 20,666
    First again? Not another one...
  • MattWMattW Posts: 30,278
    edited 3:18PM
    Second.

    I swear that the lawyers deliberately wait in ambush.

    "What have I learned from 3 years on Youtube?"

    By out Tesla correspondent. Quite interesting.

    (Waves hand in a circle.)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crFaYgR0aeI
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 124,261
    Just a heads up, the other issue for other networks being impacted by the Vodafone issue.

    If say you're number was originally on Vodafone and you've moved elsewhere due to routing issues any calls made to and from your number has to be routed through Vodafone so that's also why other networks might appear to impacted.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 47,646

    First again? Not another one...

    You'll be getting a 'loitering' reputation if you're not careful.
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 20,666
    kinabalu said:

    First again? Not another one...

    You'll be getting a 'loitering' reputation if you're not careful.
    I'm genuinely just working in my office, checking pb every so often. Honest.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 30,278
    edited 3:25PM
    MattW said:

    Second.

    I swear that the lawyers deliberately wait in ambush.

    "What have I learned from 3 years on Youtube?"

    By out Tesla correspondent. Quite interesting.

    (Waves hand in a circle.)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crFaYgR0aeI

    Update: Quite interesting for nerds, which is about 80% of PB.

    300k of watch hours, no less.

    Update: MUST WATCH. A The Lib Dem who admits to being a little embarrassed about excessive self-promotion :wink: .
  • MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 40,916

    MaxPB said:

    MaxPB said:

    What's most surprising is that no official word has gone out from a Vodafone exec on a non-Vodafone platform like Twatter/X or Facebook. That implies they're in very big trouble.

    I'm not surprised. Sky usually say nothing when Sky Glass or streaming is down.
    This is a different scale to Sky Glass being down. This is the whole of Vodafone broadband and the whole mobile data network being down for over an hour with no official word on when service will be resumed.
    I appreciate that but right now they will be trying to fix it, not concentrating on comms.
    The guy running the comms desk isn't going to be fixing anything. It implies that they don't know when normal service will resume.
  • AnneJGPAnneJGP Posts: 4,116
    Perhaps John Swinney is included in the nobody.
  • Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 67,900
    MaxPB said:

    MaxPB said:

    MaxPB said:

    What's most surprising is that no official word has gone out from a Vodafone exec on a non-Vodafone platform like Twatter/X or Facebook. That implies they're in very big trouble.

    I'm not surprised. Sky usually say nothing when Sky Glass or streaming is down.
    This is a different scale to Sky Glass being down. This is the whole of Vodafone broadband and the whole mobile data network being down for over an hour with no official word on when service will be resumed.
    I appreciate that but right now they will be trying to fix it, not concentrating on comms.
    The guy running the comms desk isn't going to be fixing anything. It implies that they don't know when normal service will resume.
    BBC News - Vodafone admits 'major outage' as more than 130,000 report problems
    https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5yldldx659o
  • RochdalePioneersRochdalePioneers Posts: 31,192
    On topic, understand the context. 379 years into SNP rule they have run out of steam and need to find reasons to stay in power. And the El Dorado solution is offer a secret plan for Independence that they will only tell you if you give them an absolute majority.

    Here is the problem - true believers in Independence largely no longer believe that the SNP will deliver independence, and everyone else dislikes being called unpatriotic by the SNP.

    Swinney is saying that *only* a vote for the SNP is a mandate for independence. Any other vote - by his logic - is a vote against independence. Even if you are voting Scottish Greens or Alba or Sovereignty, parties also pledged to independence. The latter have UDI as their policy, but according to the SNP they are unionists!

    So, here is the secret plan: there is no plan. Even they can read the room. They will not get a majority and thus the secret plan will never need to be revealed.

    But there is Good News on services. They have invented NHS walk in centres. No, not the Urgent Treatment Centres that England has had for a decade, something wholly different...
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 32,926
    MattW said:

    MattW said:

    Second.

    I swear that the lawyers deliberately wait in ambush.

    "What have I learned from 3 years on Youtube?"

    By out Tesla correspondent. Quite interesting.

    (Waves hand in a circle.)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crFaYgR0aeI

    Update: Quite interesting for nerds, which is about 80% of PB.

    300k of watch hours, no less.

    Update: MUST WATCH. A The Lib Dem who admits to being a little embarrassed about excessive self-promotion :wink: .
    I suppose there would have to be one.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 82,044

    Just a heads up, the other issue for other networks being impacted by the Vodafone issue.

    If say you're number was originally on Vodafone and you've moved elsewhere due to routing issues any calls made to and from your number has to be routed through Vodafone so that's also why other networks might appear to impacted.

    Can I PM you a short header ?
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 57,444
    MaxPB said:

    MaxPB said:

    MaxPB said:

    What's most surprising is that no official word has gone out from a Vodafone exec on a non-Vodafone platform like Twatter/X or Facebook. That implies they're in very big trouble.

    I'm not surprised. Sky usually say nothing when Sky Glass or streaming is down.
    This is a different scale to Sky Glass being down. This is the whole of Vodafone broadband and the whole mobile data network being down for over an hour with no official word on when service will be resumed.
    I appreciate that but right now they will be trying to fix it, not concentrating on comms.
    The guy running the comms desk isn't going to be fixing anything. It implies that they don't know when normal service will resume.
    Even within an internal IT department, you always put someone on comms during an unexpected outage.

    For a public-facing company, who have an entire department for comms and PR, it’s clearly a fail to not be talking, even if it’s just to say that you’re aware of the issue and the tech teams are working to restore service.
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 20,666

    On topic, understand the context. 379 years into SNP rule they have run out of steam and need to find reasons to stay in power. And the El Dorado solution is offer a secret plan for Independence that they will only tell you if you give them an absolute majority.

    Here is the problem - true believers in Independence largely no longer believe that the SNP will deliver independence, and everyone else dislikes being called unpatriotic by the SNP.

    Swinney is saying that *only* a vote for the SNP is a mandate for independence. Any other vote - by his logic - is a vote against independence. Even if you are voting Scottish Greens or Alba or Sovereignty, parties also pledged to independence. The latter have UDI as their policy, but according to the SNP they are unionists!

    So, here is the secret plan: there is no plan. Even they can read the room. They will not get a majority and thus the secret plan will never need to be revealed.

    But there is Good News on services. They have invented NHS walk in centres. No, not the Urgent Treatment Centres that England has had for a decade, something wholly different...

    There is SNP form for doing what England does but just differently. I remember the tiers during covid.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 30,278

    MattW said:

    MattW said:

    Second.

    I swear that the lawyers deliberately wait in ambush.

    "What have I learned from 3 years on Youtube?"

    By out Tesla correspondent. Quite interesting.

    (Waves hand in a circle.)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crFaYgR0aeI

    Update: Quite interesting for nerds, which is about 80% of PB.

    300k of watch hours, no less.

    Update: MUST WATCH. A The Lib Dem who admits to being a little embarrassed about excessive self-promotion :wink: .
    I suppose there would have to be one.
    "There can be only one."
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 124,261
    Nigelb said:

    Just a heads up, the other issue for other networks being impacted by the Vodafone issue.

    If say you're number was originally on Vodafone and you've moved elsewhere due to routing issues any calls made to and from your number has to be routed through Vodafone so that's also why other networks might appear to impacted.

    Can I PM you a short header ?
    Yes.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 47,646
    I'm wondering what in practice a Scottish government could do to force a Sindy vote given Westminster has the power of veto regardless of what Holyrood wants.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 30,278
    edited 3:41PM
    BoJo broke the rules on conduct for a former PM:

    oris Johnson has been rapped for breaching revolving-door rules in one of the final acts of the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments.

    Acoba – which has closed today, with its functions transferring to the prime minister’s ethics adviser and the Civil Service Commission – asked the former PM to correct the record following reports last month that he had lobbied foreign governments on behalf of two companies and taken up work without receiving the watchdog's advice first. But Johnson failed to fully answer Acoba’s questions.


    https://www.civilserviceworld.com/professions/article/boris-johnson-breaches-lobbying-rules-for-third-time
  • RochdalePioneersRochdalePioneers Posts: 31,192
    MattW said:

    MattW said:

    Second.

    I swear that the lawyers deliberately wait in ambush.

    "What have I learned from 3 years on Youtube?"

    By out Tesla correspondent. Quite interesting.

    (Waves hand in a circle.)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crFaYgR0aeI

    Update: Quite interesting for nerds, which is about 80% of PB.

    300k of watch hours, no less.

    Update: MUST WATCH. A The Lib Dem who admits to being a little embarrassed about excessive self-promotion :wink: .
    2.9m views, 344k watch hours, 18,315 subscribers, £15k of revenue (though in the last 3 months since I started really going after sponsors and referrals the revenue from those is another 60%+ on top.

    Oh yeah. Referral sales from Tesla. Non-monetary stuff:
    Free supercharging for the last 2 years with 3 more free years to come - this alone is worth many many many bags of sand
    Free premium connectivity
    Free acceleration boost (on both cars)
    Free accessories of various kinds (clothes, premium rucksacks etc)

    I didn't include everything on the video that I recorded. The original business plan for the channel was "get Youtube to pay for the car" within 5 years. 3 years in and revenue paid the deposit for the new car and very comfortably covers the 0% finance payments.

    New business plan? Build a buffer to buy a second (older) content car.
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 124,261
    Sandpit said:

    MaxPB said:

    MaxPB said:

    MaxPB said:

    What's most surprising is that no official word has gone out from a Vodafone exec on a non-Vodafone platform like Twatter/X or Facebook. That implies they're in very big trouble.

    I'm not surprised. Sky usually say nothing when Sky Glass or streaming is down.
    This is a different scale to Sky Glass being down. This is the whole of Vodafone broadband and the whole mobile data network being down for over an hour with no official word on when service will be resumed.
    I appreciate that but right now they will be trying to fix it, not concentrating on comms.
    The guy running the comms desk isn't going to be fixing anything. It implies that they don't know when normal service will resume.
    Even within an internal IT department, you always put someone on comms during an unexpected outage.

    For a public-facing company, who have an entire department for comms and PR, it’s clearly a fail to not be talking, even if it’s just to say that you’re aware of the issue and the tech teams are working to restore service.
    A Vodafone spokesperson said:

    “We are aware of a major issue on our network currently affecting broadband, 4G and 5G services. We appreciate our customers’ patience while we work to resolve this as soon as possible.”
  • MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 40,916

    Sandpit said:

    MaxPB said:

    MaxPB said:

    MaxPB said:

    What's most surprising is that no official word has gone out from a Vodafone exec on a non-Vodafone platform like Twatter/X or Facebook. That implies they're in very big trouble.

    I'm not surprised. Sky usually say nothing when Sky Glass or streaming is down.
    This is a different scale to Sky Glass being down. This is the whole of Vodafone broadband and the whole mobile data network being down for over an hour with no official word on when service will be resumed.
    I appreciate that but right now they will be trying to fix it, not concentrating on comms.
    The guy running the comms desk isn't going to be fixing anything. It implies that they don't know when normal service will resume.
    Even within an internal IT department, you always put someone on comms during an unexpected outage.

    For a public-facing company, who have an entire department for comms and PR, it’s clearly a fail to not be talking, even if it’s just to say that you’re aware of the issue and the tech teams are working to restore service.
    A Vodafone spokesperson said:

    “We are aware of a major issue on our network currently affecting broadband, 4G and 5G services. We appreciate our customers’ patience while we work to resolve this as soon as possible.”
    Which took them over an hour to put out, it's a bit of a failure and that they don't have a resolution timeframe by now is also a huge failure for such a big critical company that provides lots of national infrastructure.
  • Daveyboy1961Daveyboy1961 Posts: 4,927

    I asked the librarian if they had any books on amplifiers.

    She said “Yes, what volume would you like?"

    I'm doing up my kitchen and I asked at the library if they had any books on shelving...

    I'll get my coat.
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 26,142
    I thought that the Alba MPs had either lost their seats or (intended to) stand as independents. Was I wrong?
  • BurgessianBurgessian Posts: 3,207
    Just imagine...the US Navy recommissioning battleships!

    Just the sort of thing to appeal to a part of the PB demographic?

    Anyways, here's a learned article on how likely this is:

    https://www.twz.com/sea/is-trumps-call-for-new-battleships-even-feasible
  • sarissasarissa Posts: 2,266
    edited 4:06PM
    kinabalu said:

    I'm wondering what in practice a Scottish government could do to force a Sindy vote given Westminster has the power of veto regardless of what Holyrood wants.

    First Minister resigns and nomination of a successor is blocked for 28 days -> dissolution of Parliament -> fresh election. Rinse and repeat. £20 £16 million cost is pretty small change in the budget, and campaign funding would be easier for the SNP compared to the other parties if they actually did something.
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 124,261
    viewcode said:

    I thought that the Alba MPs had either lost their seats or (intended to) stand as independents. Was I wrong?

    Ash Regan at the weekend announced she would run as an independent in 2026.

    Up until this weekend she was Alba’s leader in Holyrood.

  • BurgessianBurgessian Posts: 3,207
    viewcode said:

    I thought that the Alba MPs had either lost their seats or (intended to) stand as independents. Was I wrong?

    No Alba MPs. They did indeed lose their seats, or not contest them.

    There was one MSP - Ash Regan - who left the party a few days ago, for some reason or other. I think she lost out on a leadership vote.

    Presumably a case of the People's Front for Caledonia versus the Caledonian People's Front.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 56,101

    First again? Not another one...

    Goal-hanger....
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 56,101
    Swinney coming across all Baldrick.

    With similar consequences...
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 45,882

    Just imagine...the US Navy recommissioning battleships!

    Just the sort of thing to appeal to a part of the PB demographic?

    Anyways, here's a learned article on how likely this is:

    https://www.twz.com/sea/is-trumps-call-for-new-battleships-even-feasible

    Interesting.

    Two issues not addressed in there come to my mind -

    1. Armour doesn't stop mission kill if the delicate radars and optronics are destroyed by blast, leaving the ship as a partly blinded hulk.
    2. What about under-keel torpedo (and diving missile) defence? Torpedo defence took a huge amount of battleshipo volume in WW2 and didn't work very well even then.
  • BurgessianBurgessian Posts: 3,207

    On topic, understand the context. 379 years into SNP rule they have run out of steam and need to find reasons to stay in power. And the El Dorado solution is offer a secret plan for Independence that they will only tell you if you give them an absolute majority.

    Here is the problem - true believers in Independence largely no longer believe that the SNP will deliver independence, and everyone else dislikes being called unpatriotic by the SNP.

    Swinney is saying that *only* a vote for the SNP is a mandate for independence. Any other vote - by his logic - is a vote against independence. Even if you are voting Scottish Greens or Alba or Sovereignty, parties also pledged to independence. The latter have UDI as their policy, but according to the SNP they are unionists!

    So, here is the secret plan: there is no plan. Even they can read the room. They will not get a majority and thus the secret plan will never need to be revealed.

    But there is Good News on services. They have invented NHS walk in centres. No, not the Urgent Treatment Centres that England has had for a decade, something wholly different...

    However it breaks in May, the SNP vote-share will almost certainly be down. Not a great platform for persuading Sir Keir, or anyone else, that now is the time for IndyRef2. Mr Swinney is the Grand Old Duke of York.

  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 38,004
    This is one of the people charged with murdering Watkins.

    "Samuel Dodsworth: Derby rapist and kidnapper jailed for 24 years

    A man who snatched a woman off the street and then raped her five times has been jailed for 24 years. Samuel Dodsworth's victim was on the way to work when he threatened her with a sharp can opener and forced her back to his flat. Dodsworth, 36, of Grange Street, Derby, previously admitted kidnap, false imprisonment and five counts of rape. Sentencing him at the city's crown court, Judge Shaun Smith QC called it "the most appalling case". He said: "You have ruined her life. It is impossible for anyone in this court to begin to imagine how she must feel.""

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-46551039
  • BurgessianBurgessian Posts: 3,207
    Carnyx said:

    Just imagine...the US Navy recommissioning battleships!

    Just the sort of thing to appeal to a part of the PB demographic?

    Anyways, here's a learned article on how likely this is:

    https://www.twz.com/sea/is-trumps-call-for-new-battleships-even-feasible

    Interesting.

    Two issues not addressed in there come to my mind -

    1. Armour doesn't stop mission kill if the delicate radars and optronics are destroyed by blast, leaving the ship as a partly blinded hulk.
    2. What about under-keel torpedo (and diving missile) defence? Torpedo defence took a huge amount of battleshipo volume in WW2 and didn't work very well even then.
    Glad you like.

    (I did make a bet with myself as to who was most likely to respond and, for once, I won the bet.)
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 57,531

    Just imagine...the US Navy recommissioning battleships!

    Just the sort of thing to appeal to a part of the PB demographic?

    Anyways, here's a learned article on how likely this is:

    https://www.twz.com/sea/is-trumps-call-for-new-battleships-even-feasible

    No.

    Face hardened armour doesn’t protect against large explosive warheads (missiles). In fact it is a bad idea - it transmits the shock all over the ship (rigidity) and breaks into huge splinters which tear open compartments.

    Large calibre guns are not very accurate and carry a tiny percentage of explosive in their shells.

    If you take a battleship and get rid of the useless/detrimental armour and you change out the guns for missiles. You get…


  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 61,906

    Just imagine...the US Navy recommissioning battleships!

    Just the sort of thing to appeal to a part of the PB demographic?

    Anyways, here's a learned article on how likely this is:

    https://www.twz.com/sea/is-trumps-call-for-new-battleships-even-feasible

    Useful for bombardment of ground defences. Not useful for much else. Would get destroyed in about 15 minutes in the event of an actual war with anyone who has better than WW2 technology.
  • carnforthcarnforth Posts: 7,425
    Vodafone landline internet back here now.
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 47,777

    Just imagine...the US Navy recommissioning battleships!

    Just the sort of thing to appeal to a part of the PB demographic?

    Anyways, here's a learned article on how likely this is:

    https://www.twz.com/sea/is-trumps-call-for-new-battleships-even-feasible

    No.

    Face hardened armour doesn’t protect against large explosive warheads (missiles). In fact it is a bad idea - it transmits the shock all over the ship (rigidity) and breaks into huge splinters which tear open compartments.

    Large calibre guns are not very accurate and carry a tiny percentage of explosive in their shells.

    If you take a battleship and get rid of the useless/detrimental armour and you change out the guns for missiles. You get…


    The framing matters. Trump did not say: "You know, we need a way of bombarding a mass of large cheapish shells on an area that is within twenty miles of the sea," which would be a capability requirement. Instead, it's harkening back to a previous time with f-all modern day requirement.

    Of course, as you say, that requirement - if it existed - could be matched in ways other than (again) recommissioning >80 year old ships.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 45,882

    Just imagine...the US Navy recommissioning battleships!

    Just the sort of thing to appeal to a part of the PB demographic?

    Anyways, here's a learned article on how likely this is:

    https://www.twz.com/sea/is-trumps-call-for-new-battleships-even-feasible

    No.

    Face hardened armour doesn’t protect against large explosive warheads (missiles). In fact it is a bad idea - it transmits the shock all over the ship (rigidity) and breaks into huge splinters which tear open compartments.

    Large calibre guns are not very accurate and carry a tiny percentage of explosive in their shells.

    If you take a battleship and get rid of the useless/detrimental armour and you change out the guns for missiles. You get…


    The framing matters. Trump did not say: "You know, we need a way of bombarding a mass of large cheapish shells on an area that is within twenty miles of the sea," which would be a capability requirement. Instead, it's harkening back to a previous time with f-all modern day requirement.

    Of course, as you say, that requirement - if it existed - could be matched in ways other than (again) recommissioning >80 year old ships.

    I really can't guess how far Mr Trump is set on reusing the Iowas, or on a new class of vessel. The Iowas have been out of service for 35 years since their last reanimation. It's a matter of skills and staffing as much as anything else. For one thing, are they still equipped with the analogue mechanical fire control computers?

    But it's not unknown to commission a battleship to act as a seaborne equivalent of Air Force One or the Britannia. HMS Vanguard was specifically modified to act as a giant Royal Yacht in the late 1940s.
  • MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 40,916
    carnforth said:

    Vodafone landline internet back here now.

    Nothing yet here.
  • PoodleInASlipstreamPoodleInASlipstream Posts: 524
    edited 4:38PM
    Carnyx said:

    Just imagine...the US Navy recommissioning battleships!

    Just the sort of thing to appeal to a part of the PB demographic?

    Anyways, here's a learned article on how likely this is:

    https://www.twz.com/sea/is-trumps-call-for-new-battleships-even-feasible

    Interesting.

    Two issues not addressed in there come to my mind -

    1. Armour doesn't stop mission kill if the delicate radars and optronics are destroyed by blast, leaving the ship as a partly blinded hulk.
    2. What about under-keel torpedo (and diving missile) defence? Torpedo defence took a huge amount of battleshipo volume in WW2 and didn't work very well even then.
    1 was an issue even in the heyday of battleships. You can't harden everything, it was common for sighting systems, electrics and hydraulics to get hit and be knocked out. The armour is really there to prevent serious damage to the machinery spaces, magazines and main guns.

    You counter 2 by having dedicated ASW ships as escorts, which is what major navies do with their carriers.

    WWII type battleships have marginal usefulness today. Their main role would be bombardment - a salvo of 9 x 16" shells every 30 seconds is an incredible amount of firepower. You can't jam, spoof or shoot down a wave of huge steel projectiles travelling at twice the speed of sound. But there's not much call for that now, particularly given even an upgraded battleship would have a firing range of something around 25 miles.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 45,105
    MaxPB said:

    carnforth said:

    Vodafone landline internet back here now.

    Nothing yet here.
    Internet on but clunky , phone ok


  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 82,044

    Just imagine...the US Navy recommissioning battleships!

    Just the sort of thing to appeal to a part of the PB demographic?

    Anyways, here's a learned article on how likely this is:

    https://www.twz.com/sea/is-trumps-call-for-new-battleships-even-feasible

    TLDR, it's deeply stupid, would be extremely expensive, and serves little or no military purpose.

    None of that matters if Trump really wants to do it.
  • CiceroCicero Posts: 3,892
    The first thing I thought of when reading of Swinney's frankly absurd statement was how much it reminded me of the 1720 South Sea Bubble prospectus which lured investors into putting money into “an undertaking of great advantage, but nobody to know what it is.”

    The fact is that the SNP have never been straight about the economic deal. The "white paper" of their economic policies pre-Sindyref actually made me very angry- it was deeply unserious and was basically asking us to believe in pixie dust. There was and is no way that we can maintain a currency union with Sterling if we are going to go for independence, it is just the reality of economics. You have to accept it and provide serious answers, not pretending that it doesn't matter.

    Had the Yes campaign actually turned round and said "look it won't be easy and things will be tough for a while, but it will be worth it", then I could have respected their position, but by pretending that it would all be sweetness and light from day one, it was basically fraud.

    Then there is the SNP and the North East. Earlier today there were a few comments about the A9 and the A96. The fact is that despite bringing home the bacon from the North Sea fro the last 50 years, the North East got no serious infrastructure investment. The AWPR was delayed for over a decade, after Nicol Stephen had already agreed the deal, because the SNP "had other priorities". The Dundee Ring Road was in need of an upgrade 40 years ago- it needs to happen now.

    The runway at Dyce is still too short to take jets direct from Houston or the Gulf- and owing to a major balls up with the AWPR there is no way the airport can ever really expand, and anyway the terminal should be moved back to the railway side if you were going to be serious about better public transport links. The Railway is not electrified to Aberdeen- it takes an average of 3 hours 8 minutes to get to Edinburgh- whereas Edinburgh-London generally takes just over 4 hours for more than twice the distance.

    Local Police and Fire services are now, like much else, run from the central belt. Forty years ago we were talking about diversifying the local economy, but in fact with the closure of paper mills (like Taits), cloth (Crombie) the Loco works, the Police etc etc etc the fact is that the North East is in a very bad way economically now. The only mercy is that he SNP has been found out- their support is falling across the North east and the Highlands.

    Good! They deserve to be punished for their witless, centralizing, incompetence.
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 33,308
    Andy_JS said:

    This is one of the people charged with murdering Watkins.

    "Samuel Dodsworth: Derby rapist and kidnapper jailed for 24 years

    A man who snatched a woman off the street and then raped her five times has been jailed for 24 years. Samuel Dodsworth's victim was on the way to work when he threatened her with a sharp can opener and forced her back to his flat. Dodsworth, 36, of Grange Street, Derby, previously admitted kidnap, false imprisonment and five counts of rape. Sentencing him at the city's crown court, Judge Shaun Smith QC called it "the most appalling case". He said: "You have ruined her life. It is impossible for anyone in this court to begin to imagine how she must feel.""

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-46551039

    What do people expect? There are very few saints in HMP Wakefield.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 57,531

    Carnyx said:

    Just imagine...the US Navy recommissioning battleships!

    Just the sort of thing to appeal to a part of the PB demographic?

    Anyways, here's a learned article on how likely this is:

    https://www.twz.com/sea/is-trumps-call-for-new-battleships-even-feasible

    Interesting.

    Two issues not addressed in there come to my mind -

    1. Armour doesn't stop mission kill if the delicate radars and optronics are destroyed by blast, leaving the ship as a partly blinded hulk.
    2. What about under-keel torpedo (and diving missile) defence? Torpedo defence took a huge amount of battleshipo volume in WW2 and didn't work very well even then.
    1 was an issue even in the heyday of battleships. You can't harden everything, it was common for sighting systems, electrics and hydraulics to get hit and be knocked out. The armour is really there to prevent serious damage to the machinery spaces, magazines and main guns.

    You counter 2 by having dedicated ASW ships as escorts, which is what major navies do with their carriers.

    WWII type battleships have marginal usefulness today. Their main role would be bombardment - a salvo of 9 x 16" shells every 30 seconds is an incredible amount of firepower. You can't jam, spoof or shoot down a wave of huge steel projectiles travelling at twice the speed of sound. But there's not much call for that now, particularly given even an upgraded battleship would have a firing range of something around 25 miles.
    And they only hit something a few percent of the time.

    Modern SAM system can easily shoot down 16" shells. A shoot down has been demonstrated on a 4.5" shell...
  • algarkirkalgarkirk Posts: 15,643
    If you listen carefully to the 36 seconds Swinney's words and examine the words, he makes no link between his secret tactics and the achievement of independence. There is no promise that the tactics are about independence (perhaps it's about dualling the A1 and the A9). Independence in his words remains a 'journey' but with no promise as to time scale.

    He is a politician.

    Just like, apparently, Labour's manifesto contained no promise not to raise employers' NIC. (Even though it did).
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 61,906

    Carnyx said:

    Just imagine...the US Navy recommissioning battleships!

    Just the sort of thing to appeal to a part of the PB demographic?

    Anyways, here's a learned article on how likely this is:

    https://www.twz.com/sea/is-trumps-call-for-new-battleships-even-feasible

    Interesting.

    Two issues not addressed in there come to my mind -

    1. Armour doesn't stop mission kill if the delicate radars and optronics are destroyed by blast, leaving the ship as a partly blinded hulk.
    2. What about under-keel torpedo (and diving missile) defence? Torpedo defence took a huge amount of battleshipo volume in WW2 and didn't work very well even then.
    1 was an issue even in the heyday of battleships. You can't harden everything, it was common for sighting systems, electrics and hydraulics to get hit and be knocked out. The armour is really there to prevent serious damage to the machinery spaces, magazines and main guns.

    You counter 2 by having dedicated ASW ships as escorts, which is what major navies do with their carriers.

    WWII type battleships have marginal usefulness today. Their main role would be bombardment - a salvo of 9 x 16" shells every 30 seconds is an incredible amount of firepower. You can't jam, spoof or shoot down a wave of huge steel projectiles travelling at twice the speed of sound. But there's not much call for that now, particularly given even an upgraded battleship would have a firing range of something around 25 miles.
    And they only hit something a few percent of the time.

    Modern SAM system can easily shoot down 16" shells. A shoot down has been demonstrated on a 4.5" shell...
    On the contrary they hit something pretty much every time.
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 47,777
    I've just had a "notice from immigration bureau" robovoice cold call. :)
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 57,531
    rcs1000 said:

    Carnyx said:

    Just imagine...the US Navy recommissioning battleships!

    Just the sort of thing to appeal to a part of the PB demographic?

    Anyways, here's a learned article on how likely this is:

    https://www.twz.com/sea/is-trumps-call-for-new-battleships-even-feasible

    Interesting.

    Two issues not addressed in there come to my mind -

    1. Armour doesn't stop mission kill if the delicate radars and optronics are destroyed by blast, leaving the ship as a partly blinded hulk.
    2. What about under-keel torpedo (and diving missile) defence? Torpedo defence took a huge amount of battleshipo volume in WW2 and didn't work very well even then.
    1 was an issue even in the heyday of battleships. You can't harden everything, it was common for sighting systems, electrics and hydraulics to get hit and be knocked out. The armour is really there to prevent serious damage to the machinery spaces, magazines and main guns.

    You counter 2 by having dedicated ASW ships as escorts, which is what major navies do with their carriers.

    WWII type battleships have marginal usefulness today. Their main role would be bombardment - a salvo of 9 x 16" shells every 30 seconds is an incredible amount of firepower. You can't jam, spoof or shoot down a wave of huge steel projectiles travelling at twice the speed of sound. But there's not much call for that now, particularly given even an upgraded battleship would have a firing range of something around 25 miles.
    And they only hit something a few percent of the time.

    Modern SAM system can easily shoot down 16" shells. A shoot down has been demonstrated on a 4.5" shell...
    On the contrary they hit something pretty much every time.
    Sometime even within a couple of miles of the target....
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 56,222

    Just imagine...the US Navy recommissioning battleships!

    Just the sort of thing to appeal to a part of the PB demographic?

    Anyways, here's a learned article on how likely this is:

    https://www.twz.com/sea/is-trumps-call-for-new-battleships-even-feasible

    No.

    Face hardened armour doesn’t protect against large explosive warheads (missiles). In fact it is a bad idea - it transmits the shock all over the ship (rigidity) and breaks into huge splinters which tear open compartments.

    Large calibre guns are not very accurate and carry a tiny percentage of explosive in their shells.

    If you take a battleship and get rid of the useless/detrimental armour and you change out the guns for missiles. You get…


    Nah, proper battleship porn here:
    image
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 26,142
    edited 5:12PM
    Nigelb said:

    Just imagine...the US Navy recommissioning battleships!

    Just the sort of thing to appeal to a part of the PB demographic?

    Anyways, here's a learned article on how likely this is:

    https://www.twz.com/sea/is-trumps-call-for-new-battleships-even-feasible

    TLDR, it's deeply stupid, would be extremely expensive, and serves little or no military purpose.

    None of that matters if Trump really wants to do it.
    Arsenal ship! Its time has come!
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 56,222

    rcs1000 said:

    Carnyx said:

    Just imagine...the US Navy recommissioning battleships!

    Just the sort of thing to appeal to a part of the PB demographic?

    Anyways, here's a learned article on how likely this is:

    https://www.twz.com/sea/is-trumps-call-for-new-battleships-even-feasible

    Interesting.

    Two issues not addressed in there come to my mind -

    1. Armour doesn't stop mission kill if the delicate radars and optronics are destroyed by blast, leaving the ship as a partly blinded hulk.
    2. What about under-keel torpedo (and diving missile) defence? Torpedo defence took a huge amount of battleshipo volume in WW2 and didn't work very well even then.
    1 was an issue even in the heyday of battleships. You can't harden everything, it was common for sighting systems, electrics and hydraulics to get hit and be knocked out. The armour is really there to prevent serious damage to the machinery spaces, magazines and main guns.

    You counter 2 by having dedicated ASW ships as escorts, which is what major navies do with their carriers.

    WWII type battleships have marginal usefulness today. Their main role would be bombardment - a salvo of 9 x 16" shells every 30 seconds is an incredible amount of firepower. You can't jam, spoof or shoot down a wave of huge steel projectiles travelling at twice the speed of sound. But there's not much call for that now, particularly given even an upgraded battleship would have a firing range of something around 25 miles.
    And they only hit something a few percent of the time.

    Modern SAM system can easily shoot down 16" shells. A shoot down has been demonstrated on a 4.5" shell...
    On the contrary they hit something pretty much every time.
    Sometime even within a couple of miles of the target....
    The Iowas were reactivated for shore bombardment three times: Korea, Vietnam, Gulf War.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 57,531

    rcs1000 said:

    Carnyx said:

    Just imagine...the US Navy recommissioning battleships!

    Just the sort of thing to appeal to a part of the PB demographic?

    Anyways, here's a learned article on how likely this is:

    https://www.twz.com/sea/is-trumps-call-for-new-battleships-even-feasible

    Interesting.

    Two issues not addressed in there come to my mind -

    1. Armour doesn't stop mission kill if the delicate radars and optronics are destroyed by blast, leaving the ship as a partly blinded hulk.
    2. What about under-keel torpedo (and diving missile) defence? Torpedo defence took a huge amount of battleshipo volume in WW2 and didn't work very well even then.
    1 was an issue even in the heyday of battleships. You can't harden everything, it was common for sighting systems, electrics and hydraulics to get hit and be knocked out. The armour is really there to prevent serious damage to the machinery spaces, magazines and main guns.

    You counter 2 by having dedicated ASW ships as escorts, which is what major navies do with their carriers.

    WWII type battleships have marginal usefulness today. Their main role would be bombardment - a salvo of 9 x 16" shells every 30 seconds is an incredible amount of firepower. You can't jam, spoof or shoot down a wave of huge steel projectiles travelling at twice the speed of sound. But there's not much call for that now, particularly given even an upgraded battleship would have a firing range of something around 25 miles.
    And they only hit something a few percent of the time.

    Modern SAM system can easily shoot down 16" shells. A shoot down has been demonstrated on a 4.5" shell...
    On the contrary they hit something pretty much every time.
    Sometime even within a couple of miles of the target....
    The Iowas were reactivated for shore bombardment three times: Korea, Vietnam, Gulf War.
    And in both Korea and Vietnam, if they wanted something destroyed by naval bombardment, they called in the Des Moines

    Because 90* 8" shells a minute which are actually accurate enough to hit targets is better than 9 16" that... aren't.

    *Yes, Ninety shells a minute. They specialised in firing a "shoot" then heading off, while multiple salvos of shells were in the air. And the first one hadn't landed yet.
  • OmniumOmnium Posts: 12,073

    rcs1000 said:

    Carnyx said:

    Just imagine...the US Navy recommissioning battleships!

    Just the sort of thing to appeal to a part of the PB demographic?

    Anyways, here's a learned article on how likely this is:

    https://www.twz.com/sea/is-trumps-call-for-new-battleships-even-feasible

    Interesting.

    Two issues not addressed in there come to my mind -

    1. Armour doesn't stop mission kill if the delicate radars and optronics are destroyed by blast, leaving the ship as a partly blinded hulk.
    2. What about under-keel torpedo (and diving missile) defence? Torpedo defence took a huge amount of battleshipo volume in WW2 and didn't work very well even then.
    1 was an issue even in the heyday of battleships. You can't harden everything, it was common for sighting systems, electrics and hydraulics to get hit and be knocked out. The armour is really there to prevent serious damage to the machinery spaces, magazines and main guns.

    You counter 2 by having dedicated ASW ships as escorts, which is what major navies do with their carriers.

    WWII type battleships have marginal usefulness today. Their main role would be bombardment - a salvo of 9 x 16" shells every 30 seconds is an incredible amount of firepower. You can't jam, spoof or shoot down a wave of huge steel projectiles travelling at twice the speed of sound. But there's not much call for that now, particularly given even an upgraded battleship would have a firing range of something around 25 miles.
    And they only hit something a few percent of the time.

    Modern SAM system can easily shoot down 16" shells. A shoot down has been demonstrated on a 4.5" shell...
    On the contrary they hit something pretty much every time.
    Sometime even within a couple of miles of the target....
    The Iowas were reactivated for shore bombardment three times: Korea, Vietnam, Gulf War.
    And in both Korea and Vietnam, if they wanted something destroyed by naval bombardment, they called in the Des Moines

    Because 90* 8" shells a minute which are actually accurate enough to hit targets is better than 9 16" that... aren't.

    *Yes, Ninety shells a minute. They specialised in firing a "shoot" then heading off, while multiple salvos of shells were in the air. And the first one hadn't landed yet.
    Why were the 16 inch guns inaccurate? Were they more inaccurate than the large calibres at the end of ww2?
  • Pro_RataPro_Rata Posts: 5,829

    Andy_JS said:

    This is one of the people charged with murdering Watkins.

    "Samuel Dodsworth: Derby rapist and kidnapper jailed for 24 years

    A man who snatched a woman off the street and then raped her five times has been jailed for 24 years. Samuel Dodsworth's victim was on the way to work when he threatened her with a sharp can opener and forced her back to his flat. Dodsworth, 36, of Grange Street, Derby, previously admitted kidnap, false imprisonment and five counts of rape. Sentencing him at the city's crown court, Judge Shaun Smith QC called it "the most appalling case". He said: "You have ruined her life. It is impossible for anyone in this court to begin to imagine how she must feel.""

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-46551039

    What do people expect? There are very few saints in HMP Wakefield.
    Yorkshire Live are loving this story too much, they get to use the words "Monster Mansion" about 135 times a day. The only thing that would make it any better for them is if The Yorkshire Shepherdess were somehow imbroiled in the story.
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 56,222

    rcs1000 said:

    Carnyx said:

    Just imagine...the US Navy recommissioning battleships!

    Just the sort of thing to appeal to a part of the PB demographic?

    Anyways, here's a learned article on how likely this is:

    https://www.twz.com/sea/is-trumps-call-for-new-battleships-even-feasible

    Interesting.

    Two issues not addressed in there come to my mind -

    1. Armour doesn't stop mission kill if the delicate radars and optronics are destroyed by blast, leaving the ship as a partly blinded hulk.
    2. What about under-keel torpedo (and diving missile) defence? Torpedo defence took a huge amount of battleshipo volume in WW2 and didn't work very well even then.
    1 was an issue even in the heyday of battleships. You can't harden everything, it was common for sighting systems, electrics and hydraulics to get hit and be knocked out. The armour is really there to prevent serious damage to the machinery spaces, magazines and main guns.

    You counter 2 by having dedicated ASW ships as escorts, which is what major navies do with their carriers.

    WWII type battleships have marginal usefulness today. Their main role would be bombardment - a salvo of 9 x 16" shells every 30 seconds is an incredible amount of firepower. You can't jam, spoof or shoot down a wave of huge steel projectiles travelling at twice the speed of sound. But there's not much call for that now, particularly given even an upgraded battleship would have a firing range of something around 25 miles.
    And they only hit something a few percent of the time.

    Modern SAM system can easily shoot down 16" shells. A shoot down has been demonstrated on a 4.5" shell...
    On the contrary they hit something pretty much every time.
    Sometime even within a couple of miles of the target....
    The Iowas were reactivated for shore bombardment three times: Korea, Vietnam, Gulf War.
    And in both Korea and Vietnam, if they wanted something destroyed by naval bombardment, they called in the Des Moines

    Because 90* 8" shells a minute which are actually accurate enough to hit targets is better than 9 16" that... aren't.

    *Yes, Ninety shells a minute. They specialised in firing a "shoot" then heading off, while multiple salvos of shells were in the air. And the first one hadn't landed yet.
    Come on, Malmesbury!

    The Des Moines and Salem didn't serve in Vietnam, they were stricken in 1961 and 1959 respectively. Only Newport News served that late, until 1975.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 57,531
    Omnium said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Carnyx said:

    Just imagine...the US Navy recommissioning battleships!

    Just the sort of thing to appeal to a part of the PB demographic?

    Anyways, here's a learned article on how likely this is:

    https://www.twz.com/sea/is-trumps-call-for-new-battleships-even-feasible

    Interesting.

    Two issues not addressed in there come to my mind -

    1. Armour doesn't stop mission kill if the delicate radars and optronics are destroyed by blast, leaving the ship as a partly blinded hulk.
    2. What about under-keel torpedo (and diving missile) defence? Torpedo defence took a huge amount of battleshipo volume in WW2 and didn't work very well even then.
    1 was an issue even in the heyday of battleships. You can't harden everything, it was common for sighting systems, electrics and hydraulics to get hit and be knocked out. The armour is really there to prevent serious damage to the machinery spaces, magazines and main guns.

    You counter 2 by having dedicated ASW ships as escorts, which is what major navies do with their carriers.

    WWII type battleships have marginal usefulness today. Their main role would be bombardment - a salvo of 9 x 16" shells every 30 seconds is an incredible amount of firepower. You can't jam, spoof or shoot down a wave of huge steel projectiles travelling at twice the speed of sound. But there's not much call for that now, particularly given even an upgraded battleship would have a firing range of something around 25 miles.
    And they only hit something a few percent of the time.

    Modern SAM system can easily shoot down 16" shells. A shoot down has been demonstrated on a 4.5" shell...
    On the contrary they hit something pretty much every time.
    Sometime even within a couple of miles of the target....
    The Iowas were reactivated for shore bombardment three times: Korea, Vietnam, Gulf War.
    And in both Korea and Vietnam, if they wanted something destroyed by naval bombardment, they called in the Des Moines

    Because 90* 8" shells a minute which are actually accurate enough to hit targets is better than 9 16" that... aren't.

    *Yes, Ninety shells a minute. They specialised in firing a "shoot" then heading off, while multiple salvos of shells were in the air. And the first one hadn't landed yet.
    Why were the 16 inch guns inaccurate? Were they more inaccurate than the large calibres at the end of ww2?
    Angular dispersion is a fun topic. As is rifling methods, bore wear, Swedish Additive. And why Iowa explosion happened.

    The Iowa guns weren't especially accurate to start with. Big guns generally have bigger dispersion. Then you add in aging propellant. Read the story of the Iowa explosion - it explains the hair raising lunacy that was going on, and attempts to increase accuracy that would have had Gunner Grant throwing people over the side.....
  • solarflaresolarflare Posts: 4,204
    edited 5:28PM
    Swinney's plan is to do what Sturgeon did and pretend to have a super top-secret amazeballs plan that no-one should or needs to know about right up until the point that it would need to be activated, at which point it becomes obvious there never was any such plan. The plan is to pretend to have a plan and hope that the circumstances within which this secret plan should be revealed are never met.

    Swinney's plan also seems to involve exactly the same thought process Sturgeon had which is that HMG should, for...reasons..., have some innate sense of "fair play" about granting another indyref, when there is precisely no reason to think that they would and indeed plenty of existing evidence to suggest that they don't.

    Swinney is a berk.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 65,940
    Good morning. From the redwoods


  • OmniumOmnium Posts: 12,073

    Omnium said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Carnyx said:

    Just imagine...the US Navy recommissioning battleships!

    Just the sort of thing to appeal to a part of the PB demographic?

    Anyways, here's a learned article on how likely this is:

    https://www.twz.com/sea/is-trumps-call-for-new-battleships-even-feasible

    Interesting.

    Two issues not addressed in there come to my mind -

    1. Armour doesn't stop mission kill if the delicate radars and optronics are destroyed by blast, leaving the ship as a partly blinded hulk.
    2. What about under-keel torpedo (and diving missile) defence? Torpedo defence took a huge amount of battleshipo volume in WW2 and didn't work very well even then.
    1 was an issue even in the heyday of battleships. You can't harden everything, it was common for sighting systems, electrics and hydraulics to get hit and be knocked out. The armour is really there to prevent serious damage to the machinery spaces, magazines and main guns.

    You counter 2 by having dedicated ASW ships as escorts, which is what major navies do with their carriers.

    WWII type battleships have marginal usefulness today. Their main role would be bombardment - a salvo of 9 x 16" shells every 30 seconds is an incredible amount of firepower. You can't jam, spoof or shoot down a wave of huge steel projectiles travelling at twice the speed of sound. But there's not much call for that now, particularly given even an upgraded battleship would have a firing range of something around 25 miles.
    And they only hit something a few percent of the time.

    Modern SAM system can easily shoot down 16" shells. A shoot down has been demonstrated on a 4.5" shell...
    On the contrary they hit something pretty much every time.
    Sometime even within a couple of miles of the target....
    The Iowas were reactivated for shore bombardment three times: Korea, Vietnam, Gulf War.
    And in both Korea and Vietnam, if they wanted something destroyed by naval bombardment, they called in the Des Moines

    Because 90* 8" shells a minute which are actually accurate enough to hit targets is better than 9 16" that... aren't.

    *Yes, Ninety shells a minute. They specialised in firing a "shoot" then heading off, while multiple salvos of shells were in the air. And the first one hadn't landed yet.
    Why were the 16 inch guns inaccurate? Were they more inaccurate than the large calibres at the end of ww2?
    Angular dispersion is a fun topic. As is rifling methods, bore wear, Swedish Additive. And why Iowa explosion happened.

    The Iowa guns weren't especially accurate to start with. Big guns generally have bigger dispersion. Then you add in aging propellant. Read the story of the Iowa explosion - it explains the hair raising lunacy that was going on, and attempts to increase accuracy that would have had Gunner Grant throwing people over the side.....
    Thanks for the detail. I was rather hoping for a digestible summary. (I had, perhaps erroneously, thought that the larger guns on British battleships were very accurate indeed by the end of ww2)
  • OmniumOmnium Posts: 12,073
    Leon said:

    Good morning. From the redwoods


    How did the cycling in amongst them work out?
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 82,044
    viewcode said:

    Nigelb said:

    Just imagine...the US Navy recommissioning battleships!

    Just the sort of thing to appeal to a part of the PB demographic?

    Anyways, here's a learned article on how likely this is:

    https://www.twz.com/sea/is-trumps-call-for-new-battleships-even-feasible

    TLDR, it's deeply stupid, would be extremely expensive, and serves little or no military purpose.

    None of that matters if Trump really wants to do it.
    Arsenal ship! Its time has come!
    We can't even afford a decent stock of missiles for the platforms we already have..
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 82,044
    Leon said:

    Good morning. From the redwoods


    You should visit Tahoe.
    Very early morning with the mist over the lake, surrounded by redwoods, and no one around...

    You might overdose on noom.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 65,940
    Omnium said:

    Leon said:

    Good morning. From the redwoods


    How did the cycling in amongst them work out?
    It turned out “the cycling” was a kind of pedalled individual mini e-train thingummy along the old Skunkrail timber train tracks. Cheesy and touristy but fun - and it delivered me right into the heart of a lovely redwood grove (hence the pics)

    But honestly these redwood forests just get more and more spectacular - every time you’ve seen the ultimate they outdo themselves. Laced with mist, exploding with light, cedar-scented visions of the sublime, with some nice coffee stops

    I’m off to another now. Jedediah Smith on the Cali Oregon border. Said to be maybe the best. I can’t see how it can be better than stuff I’ve already gasped at. It let’s have a go….
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 56,222
    Nigelb said:

    Leon said:

    Good morning. From the redwoods


    You should visit Tahoe.
    Very early morning with the mist over the lake, surrounded by redwoods, and no one around...

    You might overdose on noom.
    https://www.noom.com
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 35,061

    I've just had a "notice from immigration bureau" robovoice cold call. :)

    No ID? They are coming for you and they know where you are!

  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 82,044
    Omnium said:

    Omnium said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Carnyx said:

    Just imagine...the US Navy recommissioning battleships!

    Just the sort of thing to appeal to a part of the PB demographic?

    Anyways, here's a learned article on how likely this is:

    https://www.twz.com/sea/is-trumps-call-for-new-battleships-even-feasible

    Interesting.

    Two issues not addressed in there come to my mind -

    1. Armour doesn't stop mission kill if the delicate radars and optronics are destroyed by blast, leaving the ship as a partly blinded hulk.
    2. What about under-keel torpedo (and diving missile) defence? Torpedo defence took a huge amount of battleshipo volume in WW2 and didn't work very well even then.
    1 was an issue even in the heyday of battleships. You can't harden everything, it was common for sighting systems, electrics and hydraulics to get hit and be knocked out. The armour is really there to prevent serious damage to the machinery spaces, magazines and main guns.

    You counter 2 by having dedicated ASW ships as escorts, which is what major navies do with their carriers.

    WWII type battleships have marginal usefulness today. Their main role would be bombardment - a salvo of 9 x 16" shells every 30 seconds is an incredible amount of firepower. You can't jam, spoof or shoot down a wave of huge steel projectiles travelling at twice the speed of sound. But there's not much call for that now, particularly given even an upgraded battleship would have a firing range of something around 25 miles.
    And they only hit something a few percent of the time.

    Modern SAM system can easily shoot down 16" shells. A shoot down has been demonstrated on a 4.5" shell...
    On the contrary they hit something pretty much every time.
    Sometime even within a couple of miles of the target....
    The Iowas were reactivated for shore bombardment three times: Korea, Vietnam, Gulf War.
    And in both Korea and Vietnam, if they wanted something destroyed by naval bombardment, they called in the Des Moines

    Because 90* 8" shells a minute which are actually accurate enough to hit targets is better than 9 16" that... aren't.

    *Yes, Ninety shells a minute. They specialised in firing a "shoot" then heading off, while multiple salvos of shells were in the air. And the first one hadn't landed yet.
    Why were the 16 inch guns inaccurate? Were they more inaccurate than the large calibres at the end of ww2?
    Angular dispersion is a fun topic. As is rifling methods, bore wear, Swedish Additive. And why Iowa explosion happened.

    The Iowa guns weren't especially accurate to start with. Big guns generally have bigger dispersion. Then you add in aging propellant. Read the story of the Iowa explosion - it explains the hair raising lunacy that was going on, and attempts to increase accuracy that would have had Gunner Grant throwing people over the side.....
    Thanks for the detail. I was rather hoping for a digestible summary. (I had, perhaps erroneously, thought that the larger guns on British battleships were very accurate indeed by the end of ww2)
    It was pretty well up for battleships by 1941.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinking_of_Prince_of_Wales_and_Repulse

    That hasn't changed since.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 68,426

    Aaron Rupar
    @atrupar
    Trump on Orban: "Where's Viktor? Viktor, Viktor, we love Viktor. You are fantastic, alright? I know a lot of people don't agree with me, but I'm the only one that matters. You are fantastic. He's a great leader. I endorsed him the last election he had and he won by 28 points. You're gonna do even better this time when you have another election."

    https://x.com/atrupar/status/1977785950718570876
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 82,044

    I've just had a "notice from immigration bureau" robovoice cold call. :)

    No ID? They are coming for you and they know where you are!

    ICE mission creep ?
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 130,722
    Swinney's secret plan is to write a letter to PM Starmer asking for an indyref if the SNP win said majority at Holyrood.

    Starmer will then reject it and having used the dangled carrot of an indyref2 to get deluded SNP voters to the polls, he will carry on as FM with a majority to get his Holyrood laws through and enjoying his all expenses paid FM Georgian residence of Bute House
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 35,061
    HYUFD said:

    Swinney's secret plan is to write a letter to PM Starmer asking for an indyref if the SNP win said majority at Holyrood.

    Starmer will then reject it and having used the dangled carrot of an indyref2 to get deluded SNP voters to the polls, he will carry on as FM with a majority to get his Holyrood laws through and enjoying his all expenses paid FM Georgian residence of Bute House

    His "let 'em in" immigration policy is bold in a climate of a hostile fear of immigrants.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 99,492
    His secret is a very split opposition?
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 99,492
    Saw this description of the Fed in america, if only the SC took an approach to term limits and staggering terms.


    To shield policymakers from political influence, Federal Reserve Board governors are appointed to 14-year terms that are staggered to span multiple presidential administrations. This structure is designed to ensure that their decisions on monetary policy reflect economic conditions — not political agendas or threats of removal
  • OmniumOmnium Posts: 12,073
    Leon said:

    Omnium said:

    Leon said:

    Good morning. From the redwoods


    How did the cycling in amongst them work out?
    It turned out “the cycling” was a kind of pedalled individual mini e-train thingummy along the old Skunkrail timber train tracks. Cheesy and touristy but fun - and it delivered me right into the heart of a lovely redwood grove (hence the pics)

    But honestly these redwood forests just get more and more spectacular - every time you’ve seen the ultimate they outdo themselves. Laced with mist, exploding with light, cedar-scented visions of the sublime, with some nice coffee stops

    I’m off to another now. Jedediah Smith on the Cali Oregon border. Said to be maybe the best. I can’t see how it can be better than stuff I’ve already gasped at. It let’s have a go….
    I see. I've been pondering doing some cycling in the US. I'm no great cyclist but I do enjoy it. The Erie canal looks a strong possibility, but was interested by your reference.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 68,426
    Leon said:

    Good morning. From the redwoods


    Never mind trees, you need to get to this weird place and report back:


    BrooklynDad_Defiant!☮️
    @mmpadellan

    You can tell the "War in Portland" is raging when a guy in a kilt and a Darth Vader mask (the Unipiper) can ride his unicycle, unaccosted, past folks dressed as sharks and Garfield, playing "This Land Is Your Land" on bagpipes.

    KEEP PORTLAND WEIRD, Y'ALL

    https://x.com/mmpadellan/status/1977509801686192564
  • LeonLeon Posts: 65,940
    Omnium said:

    Leon said:

    Omnium said:

    Leon said:

    Good morning. From the redwoods


    How did the cycling in amongst them work out?
    It turned out “the cycling” was a kind of pedalled individual mini e-train thingummy along the old Skunkrail timber train tracks. Cheesy and touristy but fun - and it delivered me right into the heart of a lovely redwood grove (hence the pics)

    But honestly these redwood forests just get more and more spectacular - every time you’ve seen the ultimate they outdo themselves. Laced with mist, exploding with light, cedar-scented visions of the sublime, with some nice coffee stops

    I’m off to another now. Jedediah Smith on the Cali Oregon border. Said to be maybe the best. I can’t see how it can be better than stuff I’ve already gasped at. It let’s have a go….
    I see. I've been pondering doing some cycling in the US. I'm no great cyclist but I do enjoy it. The Erie canal looks a strong possibility, but was interested by your reference.
    What I can say, for sure, is that despite the timorous declarations of the PB centrist dorks - cancelling all their US vacations - you don’t actually get thrown in jail by Trump-goons checking your social media, as soon as you land at LAX

    Honestly. The bed-wetting
  • LeonLeon Posts: 65,940
    edited 6:01PM
    Omnium said:

    Leon said:

    Omnium said:

    Leon said:

    Good morning. From the redwoods


    How did the cycling in amongst them work out?
    It turned out “the cycling” was a kind of pedalled individual mini e-train thingummy along the old Skunkrail timber train tracks. Cheesy and touristy but fun - and it delivered me right into the heart of a lovely redwood grove (hence the pics)

    But honestly these redwood forests just get more and more spectacular - every time you’ve seen the ultimate they outdo themselves. Laced with mist, exploding with light, cedar-scented visions of the sublime, with some nice coffee stops

    I’m off to another now. Jedediah Smith on the Cali Oregon border. Said to be maybe the best. I can’t see how it can be better than stuff I’ve already gasped at. It let’s have a go….
    I see. I've been pondering doing some cycling in the US. I'm no great cyclist but I do enjoy it. The Erie canal looks a strong possibility, but was interested by your reference.
    PS you can easily hire bikes in any of these redwood forests. I can’t imagine there is much more spectacular cycling anywhere in the world. Aim for this time of year. September/early October

    You can also cycle across the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito. That’s a blast
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 56,222
    Leon said:

    Omnium said:

    Leon said:

    Omnium said:

    Leon said:

    Good morning. From the redwoods


    How did the cycling in amongst them work out?
    It turned out “the cycling” was a kind of pedalled individual mini e-train thingummy along the old Skunkrail timber train tracks. Cheesy and touristy but fun - and it delivered me right into the heart of a lovely redwood grove (hence the pics)

    But honestly these redwood forests just get more and more spectacular - every time you’ve seen the ultimate they outdo themselves. Laced with mist, exploding with light, cedar-scented visions of the sublime, with some nice coffee stops

    I’m off to another now. Jedediah Smith on the Cali Oregon border. Said to be maybe the best. I can’t see how it can be better than stuff I’ve already gasped at. It let’s have a go….
    I see. I've been pondering doing some cycling in the US. I'm no great cyclist but I do enjoy it. The Erie canal looks a strong possibility, but was interested by your reference.
    What I can say, for sure, is that despite the timorous declarations of the PB centrist dorks - cancelling all their US vacations - you don’t actually get thrown in jail by Trump-goons checking your social media, as soon as you land at LAX

    Honestly. The bed-wetting
    Are they Centrists, or Radical Left Lunatics?
  • OmniumOmnium Posts: 12,073
    Leon said:

    Omnium said:

    Leon said:

    Omnium said:

    Leon said:

    Good morning. From the redwoods


    How did the cycling in amongst them work out?
    It turned out “the cycling” was a kind of pedalled individual mini e-train thingummy along the old Skunkrail timber train tracks. Cheesy and touristy but fun - and it delivered me right into the heart of a lovely redwood grove (hence the pics)

    But honestly these redwood forests just get more and more spectacular - every time you’ve seen the ultimate they outdo themselves. Laced with mist, exploding with light, cedar-scented visions of the sublime, with some nice coffee stops

    I’m off to another now. Jedediah Smith on the Cali Oregon border. Said to be maybe the best. I can’t see how it can be better than stuff I’ve already gasped at. It let’s have a go….
    I see. I've been pondering doing some cycling in the US. I'm no great cyclist but I do enjoy it. The Erie canal looks a strong possibility, but was interested by your reference.
    What I can say, for sure, is that despite the timorous declarations of the PB centrist dorks - cancelling all their US vacations - you don’t actually get thrown in jail by Trump-goons checking your social media, as soon as you land at LAX

    Honestly. The bed-wetting
    Yeah, but they'd let you spend your cash first and nab you on the way out...!

    My brother was briefly halted on his entry to the US for having looked at the North Korean football teams website on his phone - he drew them is a sweepstake at work.
  • FlatlanderFlatlander Posts: 5,389
    Leon said:

    Good morning. From the redwoods


    Nice collection of Western Sword Fern (Polystichum munitum).

    The best groves seem to have this everywhere. I think this is because it likes the damper conditions which have been lost in some previously felled areas and it is a good indicator that the Redwoods will do well.

    They also seem to be native to Endor, if you can face watching the Ewoks.
  • OnlyLivingBoyOnlyLivingBoy Posts: 17,069
    Leon said:

    Omnium said:

    Leon said:

    Omnium said:

    Leon said:

    Good morning. From the redwoods


    How did the cycling in amongst them work out?
    It turned out “the cycling” was a kind of pedalled individual mini e-train thingummy along the old Skunkrail timber train tracks. Cheesy and touristy but fun - and it delivered me right into the heart of a lovely redwood grove (hence the pics)

    But honestly these redwood forests just get more and more spectacular - every time you’ve seen the ultimate they outdo themselves. Laced with mist, exploding with light, cedar-scented visions of the sublime, with some nice coffee stops

    I’m off to another now. Jedediah Smith on the Cali Oregon border. Said to be maybe the best. I can’t see how it can be better than stuff I’ve already gasped at. It let’s have a go….
    I see. I've been pondering doing some cycling in the US. I'm no great cyclist but I do enjoy it. The Erie canal looks a strong possibility, but was interested by your reference.
    What I can say, for sure, is that despite the timorous declarations of the PB centrist dorks - cancelling all their US vacations - you don’t actually get thrown in jail by Trump-goons checking your social media, as soon as you land at LAX

    Honestly. The bed-wetting
    I had the most bizarre experience at US immigration at JFK yesterday, something I have never seen before. Namely, no queue. I got through in about two minutes. Insane! Being upgraded to First and hence being one of the first off the plane probably helped (Leonesque humblebrag, soz).
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 57,444

    Andy_JS said:

    This is one of the people charged with murdering Watkins.

    "Samuel Dodsworth: Derby rapist and kidnapper jailed for 24 years

    A man who snatched a woman off the street and then raped her five times has been jailed for 24 years. Samuel Dodsworth's victim was on the way to work when he threatened her with a sharp can opener and forced her back to his flat. Dodsworth, 36, of Grange Street, Derby, previously admitted kidnap, false imprisonment and five counts of rape. Sentencing him at the city's crown court, Judge Shaun Smith QC called it "the most appalling case". He said: "You have ruined her life. It is impossible for anyone in this court to begin to imagine how she must feel.""

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-46551039

    What do people expect? There are very few saints in HMP Wakefield.
    Everyone on the lifers’ wing is going to be a serious scumbag.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 82,044

    Leon said:

    Good morning. From the redwoods


    Nice collection of Western Sword Fern (Polystichum munitum).

    The best groves seem to have this everywhere. I think this is because it likes the damper conditions which have been lost in some previously felled areas and it is a good indicator that the Redwoods will do well.

    They also seem to be native to Endor, if you can face watching the Ewoks.
    Curious coincidence, that.
  • CumberlandGapCumberlandGap Posts: 15
    Leon said:

    Omnium said:

    Leon said:

    Omnium said:

    Leon said:

    Good morning. From the redwoods


    How did the cycling in amongst them work out?
    It turned out “the cycling” was a kind of pedalled individual mini e-train thingummy along the old Skunkrail timber train tracks. Cheesy and touristy but fun - and it delivered me right into the heart of a lovely redwood grove (hence the pics)

    But honestly these redwood forests just get more and more spectacular - every time you’ve seen the ultimate they outdo themselves. Laced with mist, exploding with light, cedar-scented visions of the sublime, with some nice coffee stops

    I’m off to another now. Jedediah Smith on the Cali Oregon border. Said to be maybe the best. I can’t see how it can be better than stuff I’ve already gasped at. It let’s have a go….
    I see. I've been pondering doing some cycling in the US. I'm no great cyclist but I do enjoy it. The Erie canal looks a strong possibility, but was interested by your reference.
    PS you can easily hire bikes in any of these redwood forests. I can’t imagine there is much more spectacular cycling anywhere in the world. Aim for this time of year. September/early October

    You can also cycle across the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito. That’s a blast
    A few years ago my good lady and I went walking through some redwoods, on the back of coming out of Yosemite on the way down to Carmel by the sea. It was just so incredibly peaceful, and was an unexpected highlight of our trip.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 82,044
    edited 6:14PM
    Naturally.

    The UK has finally appointed a National Armaments Director after months of delay

    Rupert Pearce - chief executive of satellite operator Inmarsat until 2021 - will take on the role from Tuesday

    His job (with one of the highest salaries in HMG) - to fix @DefenceHQ procurement...

    https://x.com/haynesdeborah/status/1977739789244748239

    Watching with interest to see what he does (eg) with the army contracts for obsolete armour.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 82,044
    Leon said:

    Omnium said:

    Leon said:

    Omnium said:

    Leon said:

    Good morning. From the redwoods


    How did the cycling in amongst them work out?
    It turned out “the cycling” was a kind of pedalled individual mini e-train thingummy along the old Skunkrail timber train tracks. Cheesy and touristy but fun - and it delivered me right into the heart of a lovely redwood grove (hence the pics)

    But honestly these redwood forests just get more and more spectacular - every time you’ve seen the ultimate they outdo themselves. Laced with mist, exploding with light, cedar-scented visions of the sublime, with some nice coffee stops

    I’m off to another now. Jedediah Smith on the Cali Oregon border. Said to be maybe the best. I can’t see how it can be better than stuff I’ve already gasped at. It let’s have a go….
    I see. I've been pondering doing some cycling in the US. I'm no great cyclist but I do enjoy it. The Erie canal looks a strong possibility, but was interested by your reference.
    What I can say, for sure, is that despite the timorous declarations of the PB centrist dorks - cancelling all their US vacations - you don’t actually get thrown in jail by Trump-goons checking your social media, as soon as you land at LAX

    Honestly. The bed-wetting
    You're probably flagged as an ideological ally.
  • SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 23,593

    Leon said:

    Omnium said:

    Leon said:

    Omnium said:

    Leon said:

    Good morning. From the redwoods


    How did the cycling in amongst them work out?
    It turned out “the cycling” was a kind of pedalled individual mini e-train thingummy along the old Skunkrail timber train tracks. Cheesy and touristy but fun - and it delivered me right into the heart of a lovely redwood grove (hence the pics)

    But honestly these redwood forests just get more and more spectacular - every time you’ve seen the ultimate they outdo themselves. Laced with mist, exploding with light, cedar-scented visions of the sublime, with some nice coffee stops

    I’m off to another now. Jedediah Smith on the Cali Oregon border. Said to be maybe the best. I can’t see how it can be better than stuff I’ve already gasped at. It let’s have a go….
    I see. I've been pondering doing some cycling in the US. I'm no great cyclist but I do enjoy it. The Erie canal looks a strong possibility, but was interested by your reference.
    What I can say, for sure, is that despite the timorous declarations of the PB centrist dorks - cancelling all their US vacations - you don’t actually get thrown in jail by Trump-goons checking your social media, as soon as you land at LAX

    Honestly. The bed-wetting
    I had the most bizarre experience at US immigration at JFK yesterday, something I have never seen before. Namely, no queue. I got through in about two minutes. Insane! Being upgraded to First and hence being one of the first off the plane probably helped (Leonesque humblebrag, soz).
    No queue because most decent folk are boycotting the US until democracy is restored.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 99,492
    edited 6:23PM
    Nigelb said:

    Naturally.

    The UK has finally appointed a National Armaments Director after months of delay

    Rupert Pearce - chief executive of satellite operator Inmarsat until 2021 - will take on the role from Tuesday

    His job (with one of the highest salaries in HMG) - to fix @DefenceHQ procurement...

    https://x.com/haynesdeborah/status/1977739789244748239

    Watching with interest to see what he does (eg) with the army contracts for obsolete armour.

    If he can fix defence procurement surely he should just be made Prime Minister and King at the same time.
  • SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 23,593
    Today was a Hand of History sort of day.

    So no surprise that Blair is trying to get his shoulders involved.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 65,940
    There’s a fallen tree here which is basically the size of Durham Cathedral
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 26,142

    Leon said:

    Omnium said:

    Leon said:

    Omnium said:

    Leon said:

    Good morning. From the redwoods


    How did the cycling in amongst them work out?
    It turned out “the cycling” was a kind of pedalled individual mini e-train thingummy along the old Skunkrail timber train tracks. Cheesy and touristy but fun - and it delivered me right into the heart of a lovely redwood grove (hence the pics)

    But honestly these redwood forests just get more and more spectacular - every time you’ve seen the ultimate they outdo themselves. Laced with mist, exploding with light, cedar-scented visions of the sublime, with some nice coffee stops

    I’m off to another now. Jedediah Smith on the Cali Oregon border. Said to be maybe the best. I can’t see how it can be better than stuff I’ve already gasped at. It let’s have a go….
    I see. I've been pondering doing some cycling in the US. I'm no great cyclist but I do enjoy it. The Erie canal looks a strong possibility, but was interested by your reference.
    What I can say, for sure, is that despite the timorous declarations of the PB centrist dorks - cancelling all their US vacations - you don’t actually get thrown in jail by Trump-goons checking your social media, as soon as you land at LAX

    Honestly. The bed-wetting
    I had the most bizarre experience at US immigration at JFK yesterday, something I have never seen before. Namely, no queue. I got through in about two minutes. Insane! Being upgraded to First and hence being one of the first off the plane probably helped (Leonesque humblebrag, soz).
    No queue because most decent folk are boycotting the US until democracy is restored.
    Its more a case of "I'm not going because I don't want to end up in a cage in Colombia because I have the wrong accent"
  • SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 23,593
    viewcode said:

    Leon said:

    Omnium said:

    Leon said:

    Omnium said:

    Leon said:

    Good morning. From the redwoods


    How did the cycling in amongst them work out?
    It turned out “the cycling” was a kind of pedalled individual mini e-train thingummy along the old Skunkrail timber train tracks. Cheesy and touristy but fun - and it delivered me right into the heart of a lovely redwood grove (hence the pics)

    But honestly these redwood forests just get more and more spectacular - every time you’ve seen the ultimate they outdo themselves. Laced with mist, exploding with light, cedar-scented visions of the sublime, with some nice coffee stops

    I’m off to another now. Jedediah Smith on the Cali Oregon border. Said to be maybe the best. I can’t see how it can be better than stuff I’ve already gasped at. It let’s have a go….
    I see. I've been pondering doing some cycling in the US. I'm no great cyclist but I do enjoy it. The Erie canal looks a strong possibility, but was interested by your reference.
    What I can say, for sure, is that despite the timorous declarations of the PB centrist dorks - cancelling all their US vacations - you don’t actually get thrown in jail by Trump-goons checking your social media, as soon as you land at LAX

    Honestly. The bed-wetting
    I had the most bizarre experience at US immigration at JFK yesterday, something I have never seen before. Namely, no queue. I got through in about two minutes. Insane! Being upgraded to First and hence being one of the first off the plane probably helped (Leonesque humblebrag, soz).
    No queue because most decent folk are boycotting the US until democracy is restored.
    Its more a case of "I'm not going because I don't want to end up in a cage in Colombia because I have the wrong accent"
    Yes. That too!
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 45,506
    Leon said:

    Omnium said:

    Leon said:

    Omnium said:

    Leon said:

    Good morning. From the redwoods


    How did the cycling in amongst them work out?
    It turned out “the cycling” was a kind of pedalled individual mini e-train thingummy along the old Skunkrail timber train tracks. Cheesy and touristy but fun - and it delivered me right into the heart of a lovely redwood grove (hence the pics)

    But honestly these redwood forests just get more and more spectacular - every time you’ve seen the ultimate they outdo themselves. Laced with mist, exploding with light, cedar-scented visions of the sublime, with some nice coffee stops

    I’m off to another now. Jedediah Smith on the Cali Oregon border. Said to be maybe the best. I can’t see how it can be better than stuff I’ve already gasped at. It let’s have a go….
    I see. I've been pondering doing some cycling in the US. I'm no great cyclist but I do enjoy it. The Erie canal looks a strong possibility, but was interested by your reference.
    What I can say, for sure, is that despite the timorous declarations of the PB centrist dorks - cancelling all their US vacations - you don’t actually get thrown in jail by Trump-goons checking your social media, as soon as you land at LAX

    Honestly. The bed-wetting
    Surely your social media history easily passed the Trump-rimming threshold?
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 47,777

    Leon said:

    Omnium said:

    Leon said:

    Omnium said:

    Leon said:

    Good morning. From the redwoods


    How did the cycling in amongst them work out?
    It turned out “the cycling” was a kind of pedalled individual mini e-train thingummy along the old Skunkrail timber train tracks. Cheesy and touristy but fun - and it delivered me right into the heart of a lovely redwood grove (hence the pics)

    But honestly these redwood forests just get more and more spectacular - every time you’ve seen the ultimate they outdo themselves. Laced with mist, exploding with light, cedar-scented visions of the sublime, with some nice coffee stops

    I’m off to another now. Jedediah Smith on the Cali Oregon border. Said to be maybe the best. I can’t see how it can be better than stuff I’ve already gasped at. It let’s have a go….
    I see. I've been pondering doing some cycling in the US. I'm no great cyclist but I do enjoy it. The Erie canal looks a strong possibility, but was interested by your reference.
    PS you can easily hire bikes in any of these redwood forests. I can’t imagine there is much more spectacular cycling anywhere in the world. Aim for this time of year. September/early October

    You can also cycle across the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito. That’s a blast
    A few years ago my good lady and I went walking through some redwoods, on the back of coming out of Yosemite on the way down to Carmel by the sea. It was just so incredibly peaceful, and was an unexpected highlight of our trip.
    There are far more redwoods in the UK than in the USA.

    It's just that as they're relatively young, they haven't grown as tall yet. I'll never live to see if they do.
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 26,142
    Nigelb said:

    Leon said:

    Good morning. From the redwoods


    Nice collection of Western Sword Fern (Polystichum munitum).

    The best groves seem to have this everywhere. I think this is because it likes the damper conditions which have been lost in some previously felled areas and it is a good indicator that the Redwoods will do well.

    They also seem to be native to Endor, if you can face watching the Ewoks.
    Curious coincidence, that.
    (makes speeder chase sound...)
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 56,222

    Leon said:

    Omnium said:

    Leon said:

    Omnium said:

    Leon said:

    Good morning. From the redwoods


    How did the cycling in amongst them work out?
    It turned out “the cycling” was a kind of pedalled individual mini e-train thingummy along the old Skunkrail timber train tracks. Cheesy and touristy but fun - and it delivered me right into the heart of a lovely redwood grove (hence the pics)

    But honestly these redwood forests just get more and more spectacular - every time you’ve seen the ultimate they outdo themselves. Laced with mist, exploding with light, cedar-scented visions of the sublime, with some nice coffee stops

    I’m off to another now. Jedediah Smith on the Cali Oregon border. Said to be maybe the best. I can’t see how it can be better than stuff I’ve already gasped at. It let’s have a go….
    I see. I've been pondering doing some cycling in the US. I'm no great cyclist but I do enjoy it. The Erie canal looks a strong possibility, but was interested by your reference.
    PS you can easily hire bikes in any of these redwood forests. I can’t imagine there is much more spectacular cycling anywhere in the world. Aim for this time of year. September/early October

    You can also cycle across the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito. That’s a blast
    A few years ago my good lady and I went walking through some redwoods, on the back of coming out of Yosemite on the way down to Carmel by the sea. It was just so incredibly peaceful, and was an unexpected highlight of our trip.
    There are far more redwoods in the UK than in the USA.

    It's just that as they're relatively young, they haven't grown as tall yet. I'll never live to see if they do.
    "Redwood v. Deadwood" :lol:
  • FlatlanderFlatlander Posts: 5,389
    edited 6:42PM

    Leon said:

    Omnium said:

    Leon said:

    Omnium said:

    Leon said:

    Good morning. From the redwoods


    How did the cycling in amongst them work out?
    It turned out “the cycling” was a kind of pedalled individual mini e-train thingummy along the old Skunkrail timber train tracks. Cheesy and touristy but fun - and it delivered me right into the heart of a lovely redwood grove (hence the pics)

    But honestly these redwood forests just get more and more spectacular - every time you’ve seen the ultimate they outdo themselves. Laced with mist, exploding with light, cedar-scented visions of the sublime, with some nice coffee stops

    I’m off to another now. Jedediah Smith on the Cali Oregon border. Said to be maybe the best. I can’t see how it can be better than stuff I’ve already gasped at. It let’s have a go….
    I see. I've been pondering doing some cycling in the US. I'm no great cyclist but I do enjoy it. The Erie canal looks a strong possibility, but was interested by your reference.
    PS you can easily hire bikes in any of these redwood forests. I can’t imagine there is much more spectacular cycling anywhere in the world. Aim for this time of year. September/early October

    You can also cycle across the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito. That’s a blast
    A few years ago my good lady and I went walking through some redwoods, on the back of coming out of Yosemite on the way down to Carmel by the sea. It was just so incredibly peaceful, and was an unexpected highlight of our trip.
    There are far more redwoods in the UK than in the USA.

    It's just that as they're relatively young, they haven't grown as tall yet. I'll never live to see if they do.
    Hmm, I'm not sure that passes the sniff test, particularly the coastal redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens) that Leon is visiting (as opposed to the giant redwoods, Sequoiadendron giganteum). The coastal ones don't do so well in the UK as they get blown down. They have a different growth habit, tending to just go straight up rather than having most of the weight at the bottom.

    There are also a lot of secondary growth woodlands in coastal California, even if they haven't yet reached 110m tall.
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