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.
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...
A modern SAM system a) may be able to hit *a* shell, but it's very much not going to be more than minimally effective when there are 18 shells per minute incoming, and b) it will run out of ammunition in minutes. Even an AA destroyer like the Type 45 could attempt intercepts on 5 salvos - less than 3 minutes of a Battleship firing - before shooting itself dry.
This scenario is based on a WWII era 30-second reload time for the battleship. Given the performance of modern automated naval guns, it's highly probable a modern auto-loading 16" gun could halve that time.
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.
It's the giant redwoods AIUI. And there's a lot more: half a million in the UK compared to 80,000 in the USA. Though the numbers are estimates. Blame Victorian collectors.
I asked the librarian if they had any books on amplifiers.
She said “Yes, what volume would you like?"
Did your kids get you a book of “Dad jokes” for your birthday?
This is actually true.
Mrs J works as a silicon chip designer. When she travelled to the US for work years ago, a lady at immigration looked at the name of the company she worked for, which included 'silicon', and then stared at Mrs J's breasts. Mrs J said: "We design computer chips."
"Ah, chips not tits," the officer said. Silicon versus silicone...
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.
It's the giant redwoods AIUI. And there's a lot more: half a million in the UK compared to 80,000 in the USA. Though the numbers are estimates. Blame Victorian collectors.
Yes, that seems more likely, at least counting the planted UK population vs native US populations.
I planted a giant redwood in my front garden about 20 years ago, just for the lolz, but sadly it is looking very dead this year having just overtaken all the street trees. Drought, possibly made worse by some fungal infection or other. Bit gutted.
There are several collections that are worth visiting in the UK.
My favourites are at Scone Palace, which also had the first Douglas Fir brought back from the US along with some Sitka Spruce. They all all a decent size now.
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...
A modern SAM system a) may be able to hit *a* shell, but it's very much not going to be more than minimally effective when there are 18 shells per minute incoming, and b) it will run out of ammunition in minutes. Even an AA destroyer like the Type 45 could attempt intercepts on 5 salvos - less than 3 minutes of a Battleship firing - before shooting itself dry.
This scenario is based on a WWII era 30-second reload time for the battleship. Given the performance of modern automated naval guns, it's highly probable a modern auto-loading 16" gun could halve that time.
The physics of high speed autoloaders breaks down around the 8" size. At 250Kg shells it is difficult to rapidly accelerate and then stop them. With 1000Kg the breakages in the mechanism become inevitable.
No battleship ever managed 30 seconds in action. Some tried to claim that. But noticeably, when actually in service, they were much much slower. This was because of the fun that moving multiple tons around at high speed, in the confined space of a turret produces.
See the design reports from the US designers of the 8" Mark 16 turrets - who were asked about heavier calibers.
A Type 45 would being rude to the battleship from over the visible horizon. Out of range of the guns. That's the problem with battleship guns. 20 miles is fist fighting range.
You seem to be assuming that even 1% of the battleships shells *need* intercepting. Look up the historic hit rates. Against lines of ships that didn't manoeuvre (because they wanted steady bearings to shoot back).
We can't even afford a decent stock of missiles for the platforms we already have..
It was once estimated that you could get a Tomahawk type missile down to the $100K a piece level with mass production. we are talking 10,000+ units.
These days probably less. The main fun bit is the terrain following - the guidance computer is trivial.
A massive issue is reliability. If you only make 100 of something, you really only want to fire one or two at a target, and therefore require as near as damnit 100% reliability. If you make 1,000 of something, you will probably be able to afford to throw four or five at the same target. And if you make 10,000 of it, you can afford to just rearrange the rubble. When you make that many, if one or two fail it is essentially unimportant.
(This changes with systems that are crewed where, unless you are Russian, the requirement to save your troops plays into the equation.)
One of the major constraints in armaments is small purchase numbers requiring insane levels of reliability, pushing up the costs and leading to smaller purchase numbers...
I just watched a video that is mostly accurate, on the way Chrysler increased US tank production during WW2, simply by introducing production line systems. Similar can be seen for plane construction as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUCd4E3gWEc
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.""
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...
A modern SAM system a) may be able to hit *a* shell, but it's very much not going to be more than minimally effective when there are 18 shells per minute incoming, and b) it will run out of ammunition in minutes. Even an AA destroyer like the Type 45 could attempt intercepts on 5 salvos - less than 3 minutes of a Battleship firing - before shooting itself dry.
This scenario is based on a WWII era 30-second reload time for the battleship. Given the performance of modern automated naval guns, it's highly probable a modern auto-loading 16" gun could halve that time.
The physics of high speed autoloaders breaks down around the 8" size. At 250Kg shells it is difficult to rapidly accelerate and then stop them. With 1000Kg the breakages in the mechanism become inevitable.
No battleship ever managed 30 seconds in action. Some tried to claim that. But noticeably, when actually in service, they were much much slower. This was because of the fun that moving multiple tons around at high speed, in the confined space of a turret produces.
See the design reports from the US designers of the 8" Mark 16 turrets - who were asked about heavier calibers.
A Type 45 would being rude to the battleship from over the visible horizon. Out of range of the guns. That's the problem with battleship guns. 20 miles is fist fighting range.
You seem to be assuming that even 1% of the battleships shells *need* intercepting. Look up the historic hit rates. Against lines of ships that didn't manoeuvre (because they wanted steady bearings to shoot back).
The people who think Battleships are a good idea are the same people who think the way a fighter plane handles in a dogfight matters. This is how you end up with people who should know better arguing that an F-16 is better than an F-35.
I asked the librarian if they had any books on amplifiers.
She said “Yes, what volume would you like?"
Did your kids get you a book of “Dad jokes” for your birthday?
Not necessary.
A man walks into a library, and says, very loudly, "I want a large cod and chips, please."
The librarian glares at him, and hisses "Excuse me sir, this is a library."
He looks guilty and whispers "Sorry. I want a large cod and chips, please.
Trouble is, so many councils have shut so many libraries.
Not actually true, the number of libraries has fallen from about 4,600 in 2002 to about 4,000 now so not perhaps the widescale closures implied.
Libraries were to a degree protected by statute and the process of closing one is governed by legislation from the mid-60s which allows for public consultation before any decision is taken.
What has happened is some rural libraries are open fewer hours and are often staffed by volunteers with a professional libraran from the council only visiting to open up and close the building at the end of hours.
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.
Well we'll see. He's not out yet. Might get a visit from ICE.
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.""
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
"Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy will go to prison on October 21, informed sources told AFP Monday, after a court last month sentenced him to five years behind bars for criminal conspiracy.
The 70-year-old, who will be the first French postwar leader and the first former head of a European Union country to go to jail, will serve time at the La Sante prison in Paris, they said.
Sarkozy learnt on Monday when and where he will serve out his prison term but neither the financial prosecutors who informed him nor his lawyer responded to a request from AFP for comment.
Sarkozy, France's leader from 2007 to 2012, was convicted in late September over a scheme for late Libyan dictator Moamer Kadhafi to fund his 2007 presidential run."
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.""
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.""
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.""
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.""
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
An interesting day in the Middle East - 20 living former hostages returned which will be tremendous news for their families plus the remains of four who perished but that still leaves 24 unaccounted for and those families will continue to suffer.
20 former hostages freed and 2000 former Palestinian detainees freed from Israeli custody so cheers on both sides it would seem.
As to the "board of peace", we'll see how technocratic this group will be and how they can enforce any kind of order in Gaza. With President Trump apparently chairing it, I suspect it will mainly consist of his appointees so will it be de facto American rule by committee (or board)?
Still, one could argue anything which leads to reconstruction of and inward investment to Gaza should be welcome so a large portion of "benefit of the doubt" as a starter.
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
Well, you don’t.
The saving grace of praising the great leader is that you don't get locked up by the great leaders goons.
"Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy will go to prison on October 21, informed sources told AFP Monday, after a court last month sentenced him to five years behind bars for criminal conspiracy.
The 70-year-old, who will be the first French postwar leader and the first former head of a European Union country to go to jail, will serve time at the La Sante prison in Paris, they said.
Sarkozy learnt on Monday when and where he will serve out his prison term but neither the financial prosecutors who informed him nor his lawyer responded to a request from AFP for comment.
Sarkozy, France's leader from 2007 to 2012, was convicted in late September over a scheme for late Libyan dictator Moamer Kadhafi to fund his 2007 presidential run."
Berlusconi got 4 years IIRC but was allowed to serve it on house arrest.
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
Well, you don’t.
Looked at his post history and immediately granted him US citizenship.
"Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy will go to prison on October 21, informed sources told AFP Monday, after a court last month sentenced him to five years behind bars for criminal conspiracy.
The 70-year-old, who will be the first French postwar leader and the first former head of a European Union country to go to jail, will serve time at the La Sante prison in Paris, they said.
Sarkozy learnt on Monday when and where he will serve out his prison term but neither the financial prosecutors who informed him nor his lawyer responded to a request from AFP for comment.
Sarkozy, France's leader from 2007 to 2012, was convicted in late September over a scheme for late Libyan dictator Moamer Kadhafi to fund his 2007 presidential run."
Berlusconi got 4 years IIRC but was allowed to serve it on house arrest.
I'd be asking for 10 years of house arrest if I was married to Carla Bruni.
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.
It's the giant redwoods AIUI. And there's a lot more: half a million in the UK compared to 80,000 in the USA. Though the numbers are estimates. Blame Victorian collectors.
I asked the librarian if they had any books on amplifiers.
She said “Yes, what volume would you like?"
Did your kids get you a book of “Dad jokes” for your birthday?
This is actually true.
Mrs J works as a silicon chip designer. When she travelled to the US for work years ago, a lady at immigration looked at the name of the company she worked for, which included 'silicon', and then stared at Mrs J's breasts. Mrs J said: "We design computer chips."
"Ah, chips not tits," the officer said. Silicon versus silicone...
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.
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...
A modern SAM system a) may be able to hit *a* shell, but it's very much not going to be more than minimally effective when there are 18 shells per minute incoming, and b) it will run out of ammunition in minutes. Even an AA destroyer like the Type 45 could attempt intercepts on 5 salvos - less than 3 minutes of a Battleship firing - before shooting itself dry.
This scenario is based on a WWII era 30-second reload time for the battleship. Given the performance of modern automated naval guns, it's highly probable a modern auto-loading 16" gun could halve that time.
The physics of high speed autoloaders breaks down around the 8" size. At 250Kg shells it is difficult to rapidly accelerate and then stop them. With 1000Kg the breakages in the mechanism become inevitable.
No battleship ever managed 30 seconds in action. Some tried to claim that. But noticeably, when actually in service, they were much much slower. This was because of the fun that moving multiple tons around at high speed, in the confined space of a turret produces.
See the design reports from the US designers of the 8" Mark 16 turrets - who were asked about heavier calibers.
A Type 45 would being rude to the battleship from over the visible horizon. Out of range of the guns. That's the problem with battleship guns. 20 miles is fist fighting range.
You seem to be assuming that even 1% of the battleships shells *need* intercepting. Look up the historic hit rates. Against lines of ships that didn't manoeuvre (because they wanted steady bearings to shoot back).
The people who think Battleships are a good idea are the same people who think the way a fighter plane handles in a dogfight matters. This is how you end up with people who should know better arguing that an F-16 is better than an F-35.
Steel giants thunder Sixteen-inch guns pierce the sky Iron speaks its truth
A truly great appointment, I have never felt more assured about the defence of the realm.
Labour hires lawyer to rearm Britain
Former Inmarsat boss Rupert Pearce appointed as national armaments director, but he has no experience of running a defence company
A lawyer with no experience of running a defence company has been hired by Labour to lead Britain’s rearmament efforts.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said on Monday that Rupert Pearce, the former boss of satellite company Inmarsat, had been appointed as the first permanent national armaments director (NAD) on a five-year contract.
He will be tasked with overseeing sweeping changes to the way the British armed forces buy equipment, tasked specifically with avoiding budget overruns and unnecessary delays.
Mr Pearce was described by the Government as “a highly experienced leader” who would bring valuable experience from his 16 years at Inmarsat, including nine as chief executive.
While at the satellite company, he also held the post of group general counsel. Prior to joining Inmarsat, he was an equity partner at law firm Linklaters where he specialised in corporate finance, M&A and private equity transactions.
Mr Pearce will start on Tuesday, taking over from interim NAD Andy Start.
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.
It's the giant redwoods AIUI. And there's a lot more: half a million in the UK compared to 80,000 in the USA. Though the numbers are estimates. Blame Victorian collectors.
It's going to eat that steel container in a few years...
I've got a few piccies, taken over fifteen years or so, of a tree engulfing a metal 'no fishing' sign as it grows. On the Nene Way to the east of Wansford.
Judging by the correspondence I have had with several lawyers on various matters, before worrying about how the letters are addressed the Law Society would be better off enrolling quite a number of its members in remedial English courses.
"Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy will go to prison on October 21, informed sources told AFP Monday, after a court last month sentenced him to five years behind bars for criminal conspiracy.
The 70-year-old, who will be the first French postwar leader and the first former head of a European Union country to go to jail, will serve time at the La Sante prison in Paris, they said.
Sarkozy learnt on Monday when and where he will serve out his prison term but neither the financial prosecutors who informed him nor his lawyer responded to a request from AFP for comment.
Sarkozy, France's leader from 2007 to 2012, was convicted in late September over a scheme for late Libyan dictator Moamer Kadhafi to fund his 2007 presidential run."
Not sure why they are calling him to prison on Trafalgar Day.... Perhaps it will encourage les autres...
Ron Filipkowski @RonFilipkowski · 24m The NYT, Atlantic, WaPo, CNN, Guardian and others have all refused to sign Pete Hegseth new rules on reporting from the Pentagon. As far as I can tell only OAN has signed it. I guess this is Hegseth waving goodbye to their access to the Pentagon and other DOD facilities.
"Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy will go to prison on October 21, informed sources told AFP Monday, after a court last month sentenced him to five years behind bars for criminal conspiracy.
The 70-year-old, who will be the first French postwar leader and the first former head of a European Union country to go to jail, will serve time at the La Sante prison in Paris, they said.
Sarkozy learnt on Monday when and where he will serve out his prison term but neither the financial prosecutors who informed him nor his lawyer responded to a request from AFP for comment.
Sarkozy, France's leader from 2007 to 2012, was convicted in late September over a scheme for late Libyan dictator Moamer Kadhafi to fund his 2007 presidential run."
Berlusconi got 4 years IIRC but was allowed to serve it on house arrest.
I'd be asking for 10 years of house arrest if I was married to Carla Bruni.
Would be a good parole hearing, as you insist you've still not learned your lesson and may present a danger if released.
"Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy will go to prison on October 21, informed sources told AFP Monday, after a court last month sentenced him to five years behind bars for criminal conspiracy.
The 70-year-old, who will be the first French postwar leader and the first former head of a European Union country to go to jail, will serve time at the La Sante prison in Paris, they said.
Sarkozy learnt on Monday when and where he will serve out his prison term but neither the financial prosecutors who informed him nor his lawyer responded to a request from AFP for comment.
Sarkozy, France's leader from 2007 to 2012, was convicted in late September over a scheme for late Libyan dictator Moamer Kadhafi to fund his 2007 presidential run."
Berlusconi got 4 years IIRC but was allowed to serve it on house arrest.
I'd be asking for 10 years of house arrest if I was married to Carla Bruni.
Would be a good parole hearing, as you insist you've still not learned your lesson and may present a danger if released.
A truly great appointment, I have never felt more assured about the defence of the realm.
Labour hires lawyer to rearm Britain
Former Inmarsat boss Rupert Pearce appointed as national armaments director, but he has no experience of running a defence company
A lawyer with no experience of running a defence company has been hired by Labour to lead Britain’s rearmament efforts.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said on Monday that Rupert Pearce, the former boss of satellite company Inmarsat, had been appointed as the first permanent national armaments director (NAD) on a five-year contract.
He will be tasked with overseeing sweeping changes to the way the British armed forces buy equipment, tasked specifically with avoiding budget overruns and unnecessary delays.
Mr Pearce was described by the Government as “a highly experienced leader” who would bring valuable experience from his 16 years at Inmarsat, including nine as chief executive.
While at the satellite company, he also held the post of group general counsel. Prior to joining Inmarsat, he was an equity partner at law firm Linklaters where he specialised in corporate finance, M&A and private equity transactions.
Mr Pearce will start on Tuesday, taking over from interim NAD Andy Start.
ZackPolanski: "No matter how many houses you build, if they are not affordable, then you will not solve the housing crisis."
Erm...
Phew.
That means I don't have to even consider the possibility of thinking about whether or not it might be possible, under certain circumstances, to lend them my vote. Temporarily.
“19.2% of children in UK secondary schools, 23.4% in UK primary schools, and 30.2% of children in nursery do not speak English as their first language.
Can anyone recommend a decent hotel in London for one night next week, and a restaurant or two?
I have a possible evening event at the Honourable Artillery Company, and plan to spend the following day exploring London Cycling - not something I've done very much. It will probably either be park on the outskirts and cycle in, or on the train.
My central go to used to be the London Ryan, which had free parking and was a 1970s brown time capsule, but I guess that facility has gone.
I normally use something like a Double Tree for point-on-the-scale, but I won't be spending much time in it.
“19.2% of children in UK secondary schools, 23.4% in UK primary schools, and 30.2% of children in nursery do not speak English as their first language.
Jiminy Cricket, the meth towns of southern Oregon are something else. They make West Virginia look opulent and dainty
You in Medford?
Heading towards Grants Pass
Pass through and go to Medford. That truly is the capital of Meth in Southern Oregon. (Klamuth Falls used to have that title, but apparently it's been cleaned up.)
Interesting point. Even when people put their pronouns in their email signature, I don't think I've ever seen anyone offer their equivalent title.
Dear XXXX, .....
ETA but if you're writing to a known person the issue doesn't arise. What is the suggested new generic form?
I tend to use "Good morning all" if plural, "Good morning Forename" if job title unknown, or "Good morning Professor Surname", if entitled. I've had to look up people on LinkedIn/Facebook to see how they entitle themselves, and just wait until you get to people with multiple titles, like "Professor Dame". If you deal with people in India it can be really complicated, since the names aren't obviously gendered and can be androgynous. I've never had to deal with people in Russia, which is a pity because I've always wanted to use "gospodin".
Now ask me about Spanish, Russian, or Icelandic naming conventions...
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...
A modern SAM system a) may be able to hit *a* shell, but it's very much not going to be more than minimally effective when there are 18 shells per minute incoming, and b) it will run out of ammunition in minutes. Even an AA destroyer like the Type 45 could attempt intercepts on 5 salvos - less than 3 minutes of a Battleship firing - before shooting itself dry.
This scenario is based on a WWII era 30-second reload time for the battleship. Given the performance of modern automated naval guns, it's highly probable a modern auto-loading 16" gun could halve that time.
The physics of high speed autoloaders breaks down around the 8" size. At 250Kg shells it is difficult to rapidly accelerate and then stop them. With 1000Kg the breakages in the mechanism become inevitable.
No battleship ever managed 30 seconds in action. Some tried to claim that. But noticeably, when actually in service, they were much much slower. This was because of the fun that moving multiple tons around at high speed, in the confined space of a turret produces.
See the design reports from the US designers of the 8" Mark 16 turrets - who were asked about heavier calibers.
A Type 45 would being rude to the battleship from over the visible horizon. Out of range of the guns. That's the problem with battleship guns. 20 miles is fist fighting range.
You seem to be assuming that even 1% of the battleships shells *need* intercepting. Look up the historic hit rates. Against lines of ships that didn't manoeuvre (because they wanted steady bearings to shoot back).
The people who think Battleships are a good idea are the same people who think the way a fighter plane handles in a dogfight matters. This is how you end up with people who should know better arguing that an F-16 is better than an F-35.
Jiminy Cricket, the meth towns of southern Oregon are something else. They make West Virginia look opulent and dainty
You in Medford?
Heading towards Grants Pass
Pass through and go to Medford. That truly is the capital of Meth in Southern Oregon. (Klamuth Falls used to have that title, but apparently it's been cleaned up.)
(I would point out the Medford and the rest of Jackson County is pretty solidly Republican. Proper entreupreners, Republicans.)
“19.2% of children in UK secondary schools, 23.4% in UK primary schools, and 30.2% of children in nursery do not speak English as their first language.
Interesting point. Even when people put their pronouns in their email signature, I don't think I've ever seen anyone offer their equivalent title.
Dear XXXX, .....
ETA but if you're writing to a known person the issue doesn't arise. What is the suggested new generic form?
I tend to use "Good morning all" if plural, "Good morning Forename" if job title unknown, or "Good morning Professor Surname", if entitled. I've had to look up people on LinkedIn/Facebook to see how they entitle themselves, and just wait until you get to people with multiple titles, like "Professor Dame". If you deal with people in India it can be really complicated, since the names aren't obviously gendered and can be androgynous. I've never had to deal with people in Russia, which is a pity because I've always wanted to use "gospodin".
Now ask me about Spanish, Russian, or Icelandic naming conventions...
I usually go with:
"Hey guys," (which my wife thinks is terribly unprofessional).
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.
Interesting point. Even when people put their pronouns in their email signature, I don't think I've ever seen anyone offer their equivalent title.
Dear XXXX, .....
ETA but if you're writing to a known person the issue doesn't arise. What is the suggested new generic form?
I tend to use "Good morning all" if plural, "Good morning Forename" if job title unknown, or "Good morning Professor Surname", if entitled. I've had to look up people on LinkedIn/Facebook to see how they entitle themselves, and just wait until you get to people with multiple titles, like "Professor Dame". If you deal with people in India it can be really complicated, since the names aren't obviously gendered and can be androgynous. I've never had to deal with people in Russia, which is a pity because I've always wanted to use "gospodin".
Now ask me about Spanish, Russian, or Icelandic naming conventions...
I usually go with:
"Hey guys," (which my wife thinks is terribly unprofessional).
A friend of mine goes utterly apeshit at the use of "guys"!
“19.2% of children in UK secondary schools, 23.4% in UK primary schools, and 30.2% of children in nursery do not speak English as their first language.
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...
A modern SAM system a) may be able to hit *a* shell, but it's very much not going to be more than minimally effective when there are 18 shells per minute incoming, and b) it will run out of ammunition in minutes. Even an AA destroyer like the Type 45 could attempt intercepts on 5 salvos - less than 3 minutes of a Battleship firing - before shooting itself dry.
This scenario is based on a WWII era 30-second reload time for the battleship. Given the performance of modern automated naval guns, it's highly probable a modern auto-loading 16" gun could halve that time.
The physics of high speed autoloaders breaks down around the 8" size. At 250Kg shells it is difficult to rapidly accelerate and then stop them. With 1000Kg the breakages in the mechanism become inevitable.
No battleship ever managed 30 seconds in action. Some tried to claim that. But noticeably, when actually in service, they were much much slower. This was because of the fun that moving multiple tons around at high speed, in the confined space of a turret produces.
See the design reports from the US designers of the 8" Mark 16 turrets - who were asked about heavier calibers.
A Type 45 would being rude to the battleship from over the visible horizon. Out of range of the guns. That's the problem with battleship guns. 20 miles is fist fighting range.
You seem to be assuming that even 1% of the battleships shells *need* intercepting. Look up the historic hit rates. Against lines of ships that didn't manoeuvre (because they wanted steady bearings to shoot back).
The people who think Battleships are a good idea are the same people who think the way a fighter plane handles in a dogfight matters. This is how you end up with people who should know better arguing that an F-16 is better than an F-35.
Interesting point. Even when people put their pronouns in their email signature, I don't think I've ever seen anyone offer their equivalent title.
Dear XXXX, .....
ETA but if you're writing to a known person the issue doesn't arise. What is the suggested new generic form?
I tend to use "Good morning all" if plural, "Good morning Forename" if job title unknown, or "Good morning Professor Surname", if entitled. I've had to look up people on LinkedIn/Facebook to see how they entitle themselves, and just wait until you get to people with multiple titles, like "Professor Dame". If you deal with people in India it can be really complicated, since the names aren't obviously gendered and can be androgynous. I've never had to deal with people in Russia, which is a pity because I've always wanted to use "gospodin".
Now ask me about Spanish, Russian, or Icelandic naming conventions...
I usually go with:
"Hey guys," (which my wife thinks is terribly unprofessional).
I am somebody who thinks the ending of a letter is where you can display snark, not the opening.
I am specifically enjoined from writing 'honi soit qui mal y pense.'
“19.2% of children in UK secondary schools, 23.4% in UK primary schools, and 30.2% of children in nursery do not speak English as their first language.
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...
A modern SAM system a) may be able to hit *a* shell, but it's very much not going to be more than minimally effective when there are 18 shells per minute incoming, and b) it will run out of ammunition in minutes. Even an AA destroyer like the Type 45 could attempt intercepts on 5 salvos - less than 3 minutes of a Battleship firing - before shooting itself dry.
This scenario is based on a WWII era 30-second reload time for the battleship. Given the performance of modern automated naval guns, it's highly probable a modern auto-loading 16" gun could halve that time.
The physics of high speed autoloaders breaks down around the 8" size. At 250Kg shells it is difficult to rapidly accelerate and then stop them. With 1000Kg the breakages in the mechanism become inevitable.
No battleship ever managed 30 seconds in action. Some tried to claim that. But noticeably, when actually in service, they were much much slower. This was because of the fun that moving multiple tons around at high speed, in the confined space of a turret produces.
See the design reports from the US designers of the 8" Mark 16 turrets - who were asked about heavier calibers.
A Type 45 would being rude to the battleship from over the visible horizon. Out of range of the guns. That's the problem with battleship guns. 20 miles is fist fighting range.
You seem to be assuming that even 1% of the battleships shells *need* intercepting. Look up the historic hit rates. Against lines of ships that didn't manoeuvre (because they wanted steady bearings to shoot back).
You and your Type 45!
"Under Siege" (the best Steven Seagal film ever made!) simply wouldn't have worked if they'd substituted a Type 45 (or equivalent) for USS Missouri.
It is quite amazing to me how out of touch John Swinney has been in the last few weeks. Firstly the shambles of the Jewish mourning and now the conference which has done nothing new but rehashed the old play book.
All the projections seem to say that the SNP will run away with Holyrood elections. I am not so sure. Recent byelection results for the SNP have been poor and the buzz about them just seems to have gone flat. The byelections have also shown that outside the core base of the SNP they have little other support except from some of the Green voters. This Thursday North Ayr byelection is a must win for the SNP or time to short the SNP at next May's election.
“19.2% of children in UK secondary schools, 23.4% in UK primary schools, and 30.2% of children in nursery do not speak English as their first language.
Interesting point. Even when people put their pronouns in their email signature, I don't think I've ever seen anyone offer their equivalent title.
Dear XXXX, .....
ETA but if you're writing to a known person the issue doesn't arise. What is the suggested new generic form?
I tend to use "Good morning all" if plural, "Good morning Forename" if job title unknown, or "Good morning Professor Surname", if entitled. I've had to look up people on LinkedIn/Facebook to see how they entitle themselves, and just wait until you get to people with multiple titles, like "Professor Dame". If you deal with people in India it can be really complicated, since the names aren't obviously gendered and can be androgynous. I've never had to deal with people in Russia, which is a pity because I've always wanted to use "gospodin".
Now ask me about Spanish, Russian, or Icelandic naming conventions...
I usually go with:
"Hey guys," (which my wife thinks is terribly unprofessional).
As I use email rather than write letters, it's easy. "Good morning/afternoon all".
Interesting point. Even when people put their pronouns in their email signature, I don't think I've ever seen anyone offer their equivalent title.
Dear XXXX, .....
ETA but if you're writing to a known person the issue doesn't arise. What is the suggested new generic form?
I tend to use "Good morning all" if plural, "Good morning Forename" if job title unknown, or "Good morning Professor Surname", if entitled. I've had to look up people on LinkedIn/Facebook to see how they entitle themselves, and just wait until you get to people with multiple titles, like "Professor Dame". If you deal with people in India it can be really complicated, since the names aren't obviously gendered and can be androgynous. I've never had to deal with people in Russia, which is a pity because I've always wanted to use "gospodin".
Now ask me about Spanish, Russian, or Icelandic naming conventions...
I usually go with:
"Hey guys," (which my wife thinks is terribly unprofessional).
“19.2% of children in UK secondary schools, 23.4% in UK primary schools, and 30.2% of children in nursery do not speak English as their first language.
Comments
https://www.botanic.cam.ac.uk/the-garden/gardens-plantings/trees/dawn-redwood/
This scenario is based on a WWII era 30-second reload time for the battleship. Given the performance of modern automated naval guns, it's highly probable a modern auto-loading 16" gun could halve that time.
Incidentally, given the size they can grow to, we do seem to plant them in rather silly places:
https://www.redwoodworld.co.uk/picturepages/hoxton.htm
A man walks into a library, and says, very loudly, "I want a large cod and chips, please."
The librarian glares at him, and hisses "Excuse me sir, this is a library."
He looks guilty and whispers "Sorry. I want a large cod and chips, please.
Trouble is, so many councils have shut so many libraries.
These days probably less. The main fun bit is the terrain following - the guidance computer is trivial.
Mrs J works as a silicon chip designer. When she travelled to the US for work years ago, a lady at immigration looked at the name of the company she worked for, which included 'silicon', and then stared at Mrs J's breasts. Mrs J said: "We design computer chips."
"Ah, chips not tits," the officer said. Silicon versus silicone...
I planted a giant redwood in my front garden about 20 years ago, just for the lolz, but sadly it is looking very dead this year having just overtaken all the street trees. Drought, possibly made worse by some fungal infection or other. Bit gutted.
There are several collections that are worth visiting in the UK.
My favourites are at Scone Palace, which also had the first Douglas Fir brought back from the US along with some Sitka Spruce. They all all a decent size now.
No battleship ever managed 30 seconds in action. Some tried to claim that. But noticeably, when actually in service, they were much much slower. This was because of the fun that moving multiple tons around at high speed, in the confined space of a turret produces.
See the design reports from the US designers of the 8" Mark 16 turrets - who were asked about heavier calibers.
A Type 45 would being rude to the battleship from over the visible horizon. Out of range of the guns. That's the problem with battleship guns. 20 miles is fist fighting range.
You seem to be assuming that even 1% of the battleships shells *need* intercepting. Look up the historic hit rates. Against lines of ships that didn't manoeuvre (because they wanted steady bearings to shoot back).
(This changes with systems that are crewed where, unless you are Russian, the requirement to save your troops plays into the equation.)
One of the major constraints in armaments is small purchase numbers requiring insane levels of reliability, pushing up the costs and leading to smaller purchase numbers...
I just watched a video that is mostly accurate, on the way Chrysler increased US tank production during WW2, simply by introducing production line systems. Similar can be seen for plane construction as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUCd4E3gWEc
Libraries were to a degree protected by statute and the process of closing one is governed by legislation from the mid-60s which allows for public consultation before any decision is taken.
What has happened is some rural libraries are open fewer hours and are often staffed by volunteers with a professional libraran from the council only visiting to open up and close the building at the end of hours.
ICE: "Hey, we've heard about you."
Leon: "Hang on, can we just ..."
ICE: "Fancy a job?"
https://youtu.be/vcHLFzAnLS8?si=oClkxrq6pYNB7eLi
I had a first a few days ago when I just came straight in after about 6 hours out and about.
It's more a matter of skill.
Everything from "Russia's cities are brilliant" to "Europe is corrupt!" through "Russia wins the drone war!" and "Ukrainian draft dodging".
/Checks satellite images for burning refineries/
The 70-year-old, who will be the first French postwar leader and the first former head of a European Union country to go to jail, will serve time at the La Sante prison in Paris, they said.
Sarkozy learnt on Monday when and where he will serve out his prison term but neither the financial prosecutors who informed him nor his lawyer responded to a request from AFP for comment.
Sarkozy, France's leader from 2007 to 2012, was convicted in late September over a scheme for late Libyan dictator Moamer Kadhafi to fund his 2007 presidential run."
[Sadly it died in 2017 or thereabouts]
An interesting day in the Middle East - 20 living former hostages returned which will be tremendous news for their families plus the remains of four who perished but that still leaves 24 unaccounted for and those families will continue to suffer.
20 former hostages freed and 2000 former Palestinian detainees freed from Israeli custody so cheers on both sides it would seem.
As to the "board of peace", we'll see how technocratic this group will be and how they can enforce any kind of order in Gaza. With President Trump apparently chairing it, I suspect it will mainly consist of his appointees so will it be de facto American rule by committee (or board)?
Still, one could argue anything which leads to reconstruction of and inward investment to Gaza should be welcome so a large portion of "benefit of the doubt" as a starter.
For a while.
It's going to eat that steel container in a few years...
https://youtu.be/N6W5RB50fXk?si=pIbu2c0JdlHtQqJ1&t=414
And The Kingdom of Scotland by Romeo Taylor :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyrJ05XtNrE
Sixteen-inch guns pierce the sky
Iron speaks its truth
Labour hires lawyer to rearm Britain
Former Inmarsat boss Rupert Pearce appointed as national armaments director, but he has no experience of running a defence company
A lawyer with no experience of running a defence company has been hired by Labour to lead Britain’s rearmament efforts.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said on Monday that Rupert Pearce, the former boss of satellite company Inmarsat, had been appointed as the first permanent national armaments director (NAD) on a five-year contract.
He will be tasked with overseeing sweeping changes to the way the British armed forces buy equipment, tasked specifically with avoiding budget overruns and unnecessary delays.
Mr Pearce was described by the Government as “a highly experienced leader” who would bring valuable experience from his 16 years at Inmarsat, including nine as chief executive.
While at the satellite company, he also held the post of group general counsel. Prior to joining Inmarsat, he was an equity partner at law firm Linklaters where he specialised in corporate finance, M&A and private equity transactions.
Mr Pearce will start on Tuesday, taking over from interim NAD Andy Start.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/10/13/labour-hires-lawyer-to-rearm-britain/
Sadly, I couldn't find it last time I ran past.
https://x.com/dave_brown24/status/1977731710033821757?s=61&t=LYVEHh2mqFy1oUJAdCfe-Q
Good for them.
Greeting excludes women and other gender identities, according to Law Society
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/10/13/dear-sirs-lawyers-law-society-guidance-letters-greeting/ (£££)
@RonFilipkowski
·
24m
The NYT, Atlantic, WaPo, CNN, Guardian and others have all refused to sign Pete Hegseth new rules on reporting from the Pentagon. As far as I can tell only OAN has signed it. I guess this is Hegseth waving goodbye to their access to the Pentagon and other DOD facilities.
Dear XXXX, .....
ETA but if you're writing to a known person the issue doesn't arise. What is the suggested new generic form?
He'll copy them in anyway...
https://google.com/search?q=cleveland+i+will+kill+again&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-gb&client=safari#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:799fce71,vid:U_KDzr0ACxg,st:0
A much bigger problem is solicitors, especially dodgy ones, addressing emails incorrectly or forgetting to sign them with the correct names.
This allows, say, a certain Mr Parsons to claim his emails advising his clients to commit a felony were written by his junior staff.
Erm...
That means I don't have to even consider the possibility of thinking about whether or not it might be possible, under certain circumstances, to lend them my vote. Temporarily.
“19.2% of children in UK secondary schools, 23.4% in UK primary schools, and 30.2% of children in nursery do not speak English as their first language.
--2024/25 data”
https://x.com/goodwinmj/status/1977833829118455847?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw
I have a possible evening event at the Honourable Artillery Company, and plan to spend the following day exploring London Cycling - not something I've done very much. It will probably either be park on the outskirts and cycle in, or on the train.
My central go to used to be the London Ryan, which had free parking and was a 1970s brown time capsule, but I guess that facility has gone.
I normally use something like a Double Tree for point-on-the-scale, but I won't be spending much time in it.
Now ask me about Spanish, Russian, or Icelandic naming conventions...
WATCH: Trump asked, “Where is the UK?”
Starmer raised his hand. Trump called him to the stage, making him think he was going to speak.
Starmer approached the podium. “It’s nice that you’re here,” Trump said, then sent him back, offending Starmer.
https://x.com/clashreport/status/1977797787195523561?s=46&t=CW4pL-mMpTqsJXCdjW0Z6Q
I think Sir Keir says “Behind you, as usual” actually. Vomit inducing stuff, but the look in Starmer’s face after he trudges back is priceless
By the time I left school I could also speak French, German, Latin, and Greek.
It's the reason I am a polymath.
"Hey guys," (which my wife thinks is terribly unprofessional).
I am specifically enjoined from writing 'honi soit qui mal y pense.'
"Under Siege" (the best Steven Seagal film ever made!) simply wouldn't have worked if they'd substituted a Type 45 (or equivalent) for USS Missouri.
All the projections seem to say that the SNP will run away with Holyrood elections. I am not so sure. Recent byelection results for the SNP have been poor and the buzz about them just seems to have gone flat. The byelections have also shown that outside the core base of the SNP they have little other support except from some of the Green voters. This Thursday North Ayr byelection is a must win for the SNP or time to short the SNP at next May's election.
Good afternoon
Thank you for your email, I assume this is a first draft sent in error as it is severely lacking in any content.
Please advise.
Kindest regards
"Good morning/afternoon all".