tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.comments2024-03-18T16:33:31.633+00:00Capitalists@WorkCityUnslickerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15929544047783163175noreply@blogger.comBlogger68228125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-16654493549088838992024-03-18T16:33:31.633+00:002024-03-18T16:33:31.633+00:00Anon 9.36 - I don't think there's that muc...Anon 9.36 - I don't think there's that much difference between a Russian oligarch and a "British" one - do you? <br /><br />I might make an exception for Jim Ratcliffe, who actually thinks the UK ought to make stuff.<br /><br />AFAIK the Russian oligarchs don't fund both parties, then start whining about "skill shortages" i.e. "I can't get the staff on the wages I pay". And they get their way!<br /><br />I think Philip Green is a fine example of an oligarch - a (former) government adviser who took care to pay as little UK tax as possible on his billions.<br /><br />Online gambling is a destructive, life-ruining activity, but at least that Stoke woman pays her whack.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-43015230931062536422024-03-18T13:07:30.159+00:002024-03-18T13:07:30.159+00:00Fascinating, ND. Thank you
That last pic looks a ...Fascinating, ND. Thank you<br /><br />That last pic looks a lot like the WW2 heinkel HE111 !<br /><br />djmnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-59318546840854815772024-03-18T12:10:48.762+00:002024-03-18T12:10:48.762+00:00Many thanks for that.Many thanks for that.Bloke in Callaonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-22817452660516680142024-03-18T08:12:08.560+00:002024-03-18T08:12:08.560+00:00Matt - as CH says. One of them was shot down over...<b>Matt</b> - as CH says. One of them was shot down over the Sea of Azov, the other over actual Russian territory, <b>east of the Sea of Azov!</b> <br /><br />The Russians don't want their pilots to think Ukr AA has that range & capability (whether or not it does): they would rather their pilots thought it was FF - which is at least a problem they can fix (in theory ...)Nick Drewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13670594203660051701noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-56623225786480298072024-03-17T22:08:11.034+00:002024-03-17T22:08:11.034+00:00@Matt - Russia likes to claim friendly fire when i...@Matt - Russia likes to claim friendly fire when it suits, e.g. an A-50. Not so much when their air defences land on their citizenry though.<br /><br />CHAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-90198851284545174102024-03-17T22:05:38.374+00:002024-03-17T22:05:38.374+00:00@ND - congrats on the Putin percentage, 88% by the...@ND - congrats on the Putin percentage, 88% by the looks of it, 1% out... Really thought Putin might have dialled it back a bit.<br /><br />Suspect another landslide might have been a misstep for him.<br /><br />CHAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-39522186394010563592024-03-17T21:48:08.225+00:002024-03-17T21:48:08.225+00:00@ ND
So, who did shoot down the A-50s if it wasn&...@ ND<br /><br />So, who did shoot down the A-50s if it wasn't the Ukrainians? If it was a NATO member that's getting on for involving us in the war!Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08141297358269863170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-61616854321258795762024-03-17T21:36:20.036+00:002024-03-17T21:36:20.036+00:00Maybe our leaders are foolish enough to go nuke be...Maybe our leaders are foolish enough to go nuke because they know damn well they won't be queuing at the recruiting stations to get dumped on in Odessa.<br /><br />Or maybe they'll go nuke because we're expendable, as both parties have demonstrated over the last 40 years. Just as long as the oligarchs survive...<br /><br />you're talking about Russia, right?<br />The World Leader in Oligarchs.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-47353887052649626592024-03-17T20:08:38.118+00:002024-03-17T20:08:38.118+00:00Maybe our leaders are foolish enough to go nuke be...Maybe our leaders are foolish enough to go nuke because they know damn well they won't be queuing at the recruiting stations to get dumped on in Odessa.<br /><br />Or maybe they'll go nuke because we're expendable, as both parties have demonstrated over the last 40 years. Just as long as the oligarchs survive...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-63631345552984332662024-03-17T19:57:43.899+00:002024-03-17T19:57:43.899+00:00IIRC can't both those German missiles and F16s...IIRC can't both those German missiles and F16s carry nuclear weapons? Are we going to hope no one in RusHQ is paranoid that morning?<br /><br />My feeling is that if push comes to shove China is all in on Russia's side, obviously they want to keep their powder dry, but they will NOT want Russia to lose at all at all, because they'll be next.<br /><br />Given the respective physical sizes of the UK and Russia, we really are pushing our luck here. Ten 750KT warheads, as carried by a single Sarmat, might not put much of a dent in Mother Russia but sure would ruin England.<br /><br />The NHS apparently have stocks of iodine pills, but getting them to people will be the issue...<br /><br />I live about 20 miles from a target.<br /><br /><i>"A 750 kiloton nuclear warhead detonated by an intercontinental ballistic missile would have a blast radius of 4.6 kilometers at ground level.2 A 1,000 kiloton nuclear blast could produce third-degree burns up to 5 miles away, second-degree burns up to 6 miles away, and first-degree burns up to 7 miles away, according to AsapScience. People up to 53 miles away could also experience temporary blindness. "</i><br /><br /> Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-86785197231659514022024-03-17T12:25:15.528+00:002024-03-17T12:25:15.528+00:00Reminding aggressors that you possess a nuclear ar...Reminding aggressors that you possess a nuclear arsenal isn't "threatening" nuclear war, it is <b>warning</b> about the <i>threat</i> of nuclear war.<br /><br />Or, in other words, "F*ck Around and Find Out".<br /><br />Which the West is doing.<br /><br />The very clear Red Line from the very start has been nuclear munitions that can rapidly reach Moscow. Whether that is Kennedy installing nuclear missiles in Turkey, (the "Cuban" missile crisis), or neo-Nazi infested Ukraine right now.Wildgoosehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14884595915411975940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-3149365668526545002024-03-17T11:49:53.590+00:002024-03-17T11:49:53.590+00:00Russia has threatened to go nuclear on its red lin...Russia has threatened to go nuclear on its red lines, many times.<br /><br />If NATO supplied munitions to Ukraine, nuclear war.<br />If the Swedish and Finnish nations join nato, nuclear war.<br />If Himars are sent to Ukraine, nuclear war<br />If Russian territory is attacked, nuclear war<br />If western tanks are sent to Ukraine, nuclear war<br />If F16s are sent to Ukraine, nuclear war.<br /><br />He will have to settle for a forever war in Ukraine. The new Afghanistan,Iraq,Vietnam. Find a way to extricate his armies from his folly.<br />Iraq will aid him.<br />China will aid him, providing there is NO Nuclear Use. As per their agreement.<br /><br />Luckily he will have at least six to sixty more years in office to figure out how.<br /><br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-78176937549611056242024-03-17T10:25:51.049+00:002024-03-17T10:25:51.049+00:00Keep knocking off Russian assets looks a plan.
Un...Keep knocking off Russian assets looks a plan.<br /><br />Unsurprising the Russians did not adopt the UK's Nimrod approach for the A-50, you can't compute your way out of building a rotordome. You might get close a long way after it no longer matters but only if you like playing leapfrog.jimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00470816959796395467noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-85338440163363656792024-03-17T09:45:59.811+00:002024-03-17T09:45:59.811+00:00"Putin's constant threat of nuclear war /..."Putin's constant threat of nuclear war / nuclear strikes": maybe it's his way of saying "Don't you dare give Ukraine missiles capable of carrying a nuclear warhead."deariemenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-77667099270958003212024-03-17T07:48:51.276+00:002024-03-17T07:48:51.276+00:00Does Putin's constant threat of nuclear war / ...Does Putin's constant threat of nuclear war / nuclear strikes simply underline how weak they are? <br /><br />Is it simply a plea for them to be left alone with their current "winnings"?Diogenesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-61426954195435472002024-03-17T06:39:14.974+00:002024-03-17T06:39:14.974+00:00"M. Micron seems potty on the subject but is ..."M. Micron seems potty on the subject but is that words only, not action?"<br /><br />Believing yourself to be the reincarnation of Napoleon a recurring problem for French presidents (Sarkozy, passim...". De Gaulle, of course, a fine exception to that delusionJeremy Poyntonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-49114123705744144292024-03-16T20:51:54.964+00:002024-03-16T20:51:54.964+00:00"We really are outsourcing everything."
..."We really are outsourcing everything."<br /><br />Milo Mindbinder lives.....Sobershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11407417389022146963noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-19318819277537283452024-03-16T19:02:07.958+00:002024-03-16T19:02:07.958+00:00"Germany's lamentable performance": ..."Germany's lamentable performance": that's one consolation, anyway. <br /><br />M. Micron seems potty on the subject but is that words only, not action?deariemenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-44130208474769178522024-03-15T17:10:35.230+00:002024-03-15T17:10:35.230+00:00OT, but when watching various military air movemen...OT, but when watching various military air movements off the UK coast on Flightradar24, I was surprised to see that the RAF Tornados were accompanied by various Dassault Falcons and Aero L159s belonging to this private US company.<br /><br />We really are outsourcing everything.<br /><br />https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draken_InternationalAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-11173711928029705992024-03-15T11:47:26.443+00:002024-03-15T11:47:26.443+00:00Yes please ND, I doubt any of us will be bored - f...Yes please ND, I doubt any of us will be bored - fascinated more like.Bloke in Callaonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-15106740096503744432024-03-15T10:37:13.935+00:002024-03-15T10:37:13.935+00:00Jim, the short answer is: quite a lot. And it was...Jim, the short answer is: quite a lot. And it was quite an expensive job. The plane had been refurbished several times over the years between when it was badly damaged in an air raid in 1940, and when it was brought back from the States to England 2 years ago. <br /><br />At the risk of boring other readers I will try to condense a private account of the restoration I've been given, that's not in the public domain. When I get a moment.Nick Drewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13670594203660051701noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-79113211785101664942024-03-15T09:59:29.854+00:002024-03-15T09:59:29.854+00:00Speaking from a position of complete ignorance, h...Speaking from a position of complete ignorance, how much original aluminium and ironmongery is left on these restored planes? Not that it really matters.<br /><br />From my own experience old aluminium tends to corrode and crumble. Then taking things apart tends to cause damage which has to be repaired/patched up. Not that this takes away from the interest and derring do. Sounds a v expensive job.<br /><br />In the early days planes a bit bigger would fly fancy radios and big tape recorders along the coast or borders of a n other. Others would lie up in a snowy tent near a border fence with a croc clip using the border fence as an antenna. Worked well in the days when the military still used teleprinters.jimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00470816959796395467noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-71272495413261144432024-03-14T17:03:40.646+00:002024-03-14T17:03:40.646+00:00And despite the casualty predictions, Chamberlain ...And despite the casualty predictions, Chamberlain declared war. Impressive. How many of today's lot could see clearly enough to do that I wonder.<br /> <br />There was(is?) a story down a West London pub... that a former Luftwaffe flier who had settled sometime after the war and become a local would maintain if pushed that what saved London was not any defences as such, but that much of the time the Luftwaffe would turn up but simply couldn't see where to bomb because of the fogs back then.<br /><br />Relurks.<br /> Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-11572358120643916562024-03-14T16:04:05.129+00:002024-03-14T16:04:05.129+00:00pre-WW2 air raid policy was predicated on two prec...pre-WW2 air raid policy was predicated on two precedents that turned out to be misleading: WW1 German air raids on London & the East Coast; and the Spanish Civil War. The death toll per tonne of bombs dropped in both cases was pretty extreme <br /><br />based on extrapolations from these, the authorities were planning on a <b>quarter of a million casualties <i>per week</i></b> in London, when the anticipated blitz began: they were debating between ditching the bodies in the Thames at high tide, or the gravel pits around what are now the big reservoirs around LHR <br /><br />of course, neither WW1 UK nor Spain had any protection - not fighters, not AA guns, not balloons, not radar, not air raid shelters, not Civil Defence, not blackouts, not taped-up windows (glass is mostly what kills), not serious pre-planning of any kind<br /><br />by mid 1940, London did. Even then ...<br /><br />And it's worth remembering that the V1 - precursor to today's UAVs / glide bombs, and wreaking serious havoc to housing & morale - didn't yield to much of the above defence matrix. Only taking them out at source really workedNick Drewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13670594203660051701noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32841798.post-12244197456560484892024-03-14T15:27:36.411+00:002024-03-14T15:27:36.411+00:001930 the bomber would always get through.
1940, no...1930 the bomber would always get through.<br />1940, not so much.Bill Quango MPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14861116614665461655noreply@blogger.com