OneGuyFromBarlick

The following, from the BBC article on the Air India 787 crash, caught my attention today. Nowhere near the same scale but 'sensor issues' stopped my car, a sensor put my son's car into limp mode (eventually diagnosed as a broken wire on a sensor) and sensors put his in-laws car into limp mode (diagnosed as the lid not being put back on the adblue tank correctly)...

A glitch in the plane's Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC) system - which monitors engine health and performance - could, in theory, trigger an automatic shutdown if it receives false signals from sensors, some pilots suggest

Food for thought.

See THIS report on Gaza by Jeremy Bowen....
8 hours ago
Two years ago, Hamas was putting the finishing touches to its plan to attack Israel. In Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu believed that the Palestinians were a problem to be managed. The real threat, he insisted, was Iran. Netanyahu's rhetoric opposing Hamas was undimmed, but he had also given permission for Qatar to funnel money into Gaza. It gave him space for his real priorities in foreign policy - confronting Iran and finding a way to normalise relations with Saudi Arabia. In Washington, then-President Joe Biden and his administration believed they were close to hatching a deal between the Saudis and Israelis. It was all a series of illusions. Netanyahu has refused to establish an enquiry to look into the mistakes he made alongside his army and security chiefs that gave Hamas its opportunity to attack with such deadly effect on 7 October 2023. The century-long conflict between Jews and Arabs for control of the land between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean was unresolved, festering, and about to explode into a war that looks to be as consequential as its other landmarks, in 1948 and 1967. The Middle East has been transformed since 7 October, and almost two years into the war, the conflict in Gaza is at another inflection point.
I rate Jeremy Bowen and hope he is right, it's time something changed....

See THIS BBC report on the car industry.....
3 hours ago
British car and van production in the first half of this year has hit its lowest level since 1953, excluding the industry shutdown during Covid. Car output fell 7.3% in the six months to June while the closure of Vauhall's Luton van plant helped drive van production down 45%, data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) shows. Uncertainty over tariffs in the US – the UK industry's second biggest market – meant some firms slowed or stopped production in the first half of this year. SMMT said the US-UK tariff deal which has since come into effect could help confidence, while the government said its electric vehicle (EV) grants would "boost" the industry. The SMMT welcomed the EV grants, but it said the new system lacked clarity and had been introduced without consulting the industry. Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive, said the half year production figures were "depressing" but that he hoped that the first half of this year marked "the nadir" for the UK auto industry. A deal with the US to reduce tariffs from 27.5% to 10% was announced in May came into effect on 30 June, with SMMT recording a small rise in vehicle production in June.
This made me think about something Newton Pickles said to me once..... We were talking about the state of the economy and he said, "The trouble is there aren't enough people making things...." I think that's perhaps the problem in a nutshell......

News that the baby we are expecting in December is a girl so another great grand daughter! I think that brings the score up to five!

See THIS news item on Trump looking after his business affairs.....
4 hours ago
Donald Trump flies into Scotland later to visit two golf resorts which he owns in the country where his mother was born. He will travel to Turnberry in South Ayrshire, a world class venue he bought in 2014, and to Menie in Aberdeenshire to open a new 18-hole course. The White House says Trump will also meet prime minister Sir Keir Starmer to discuss trade while he is in the UK. The trip is exceptional as US presidents rarely promote their personal interests so publicly while in office. It is not the first time that Trump has been accused of conflating his own affairs with the nation's. Even so, with Gaza and Ukraine in flames, the dollar on the slide, and questions mounting about his ties to convicted paedophile, Jeffrey Epstein, Trump's decision to focus on golf has raised eyebrows.
But this should come as no surprise, Trump quite obviously sees the Presidency as a business opportunity, remember his crypto bank and social media?

See THIS BBC report on the Trump visit to his golf courses in Scotland. He lectures us on immigration and wind farms.....

News from Australia and Rugby that the Artisan Bakers has closed. Margaret says that includes the shops at Clitheroe and Burnley.
I haven't used them for a long time. In the days when I was still eating bakery products they were very expensive.

Yep, the one in Barlick has been shut for about a month now. It was well over two quid for a loaf, I can make three for that.

I asked Google if they were still trading yesterday and this morning. here's the reply I got on both visits....
AI Overview
Yes, The Artisan Bakers in Barnoldswick is still trading. They have a shop in the town square and are known for their freshly baked, bespoke breads, sandwiches, cakes, and savories, all made in their Barnoldswick bakehouse. They also have shops in Clitheroe and deliver to various wholesale customers.
Their Barnoldswick shop is located in the town square and is open as normal, offering a variety of their products, including BBQ breads and treats according to a recent Facebook post. They also have a strong online presence, including a Facebook page and an Instagram account where they share updates and promotions.
The bakery is owned and run by Kerry and Rachel Tyrer, who continue the baking tradition established in the original 1890s bakehouse. They focus on using quality ingredients and traditional baking methods to produce their range of artisan breads and baked goods.
And I was under the impression that AI was akin to the Second Coming!

A Spitfire giving us a private display a little while ago!

Wendyf wrote: ↑27 Jul 2025, 16:08 A Spitfire giving us a private display a little while ago!

We saw it too, I got a bit of video on my phone

Do you think it was doing a flypast for an event in the area or just out for a trip?

I heard something familiar at about 15:30.... I don't think it was the Rolls Spitfire, that one has a Griffon engine and growls more than yesterday's did. I have and idea I heard the same plane about 3 days ago at about the same time.

The other thing that attracted me was the football.... I watched the 15 minutes extra time and then couldn't resist the penalty shoot out. Good stuff and of course the Lionesses won. Not my usual choice of viewing but I don't think the Empire will tremble!

The Blackpool Air Show is on the 9-10 August so keep your eyes on the sky! LINK

Breaking news at the moment....
Multiple people have been injured and a suspect is dead after a shooting at a New York City skyscraper.
Investigators are set to provide an update on the incident shortly
A police officer was fatally shot in the incident, according to CBS News, the BBC's US partner, citing law enforcement sources
There is a large police presence around 345 Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan
New York City's police commissioner says "the scene has been contained and the lone shooter has been neutralized"
"I saw a man was being wheeled away in a stretcher with bandages strapped to his chest", says a BBC journalist near the scene
New York Police Department is urging the public to avoid the area

The report I heard said the shooter killed himself, hardly neutralised by the police.

See THIS update on the shooting.
A gunman who killed four people when he stormed a skyscraper in the heart of New York on Monday evening left a note that appeared to blame the National Football League (NFL) for a brain injury, the city's Mayor Eric Adams says. The attacker, 27-year-old Shane Tamura of Las Vegas, shot himself dead after opening fire in a building where the American football league has its headquarters, but went to a different part of the building after taking the wrong lift. The gunman was carrying a note in which he blamed CTE, a brain disease triggered by head trauma, for his mental illness, Adams said. Tamura played football as a teenager but did not play in the NFL, ex-teammates have told US media.

Later... I'm listening to a programme on wild life on World Service and one of the things discussed was a programme of research into the social behaviour of Mongooses. Evidently during the day some of the mongooses climb to vantage points and act as sentinels. They communicate with their fellows and let them know they are doing this which frees them to forage more efficiently. When the community retreat to their communal burrows for the night the sentinels are rewarded by being groomed by the other members of the tribe, something which they enjoy immensely. This concept of reward for service is behaviour which wasn't known before.....
Lovely!

See THIS BBC report of a delay in air traffic....
Air passengers have suffered significant disruption after an air traffic control outage brought major UK airports to a standstill. The technical problem only lasted 20 minutes but caused a huge backlog of flights and delays. Thousands of planes were grounded at airports including Heathrow, Stansted, Manchester and Edinburgh. More than 150 flights to and from the UK were cancelled, as of 22:00 BST. Air traffic control firm NATS said the issue was "radar-related" and quickly resolved by switching to a back-up system, and it had reduced flight traffic to ensure safety. It added there was no evidence the incident was cyber related. The government said it was "working closely" with NATS to understand what had gone wrong. It is the second time in two years that NATS has suffered a major outage. NATS apologised for the outage.
So much of our lives is totally dependent on computer systems, it's frightening!

You cant revert to paper operations with a radar outage. I think I would rather not fly if the aircraft you are on or all the others cant be seen on radar.

If anyone fancies a sing along next Thursday evening in the Town Square