Seen in the News

[Stanley]

I see they have moved the carrier into more sheltered water off Gosport so they can do a more thorough inspection. It looks very much like a long stay in dry dock at Rosyth is going to be needed. So much for us supplying NATO's flagship...... If this is 'punching above your weight' forget it!!

[plaques]

As for the carrier - well it looks as if it's just the elastic band on the starboard side that has snapped.

I believe it has got some seaweed wrapped round the prop shaft.

Turning to the 'man in the moon'. I've always wondered if the moon has a geostationary orbit position then they could use Arthur C. Clarke's space elevator that he mentions in his 1979 science fiction novel The Fountains of Paradise.

A couple of solar panels and an electric motor and you could be up and down like a yoyo.

[Big Kev]

I'm still intrigued as to why they want to go back to the moon after 50 years.

[Tizer]

...Speaking of Aircraft Carriers - I once spent three weeks on this one, as a guest of the Grey Funnel Line. HMS Triumph. A long time after the active service shown, and not the best three weeks of my life. By then it had been converted to be a floating workshop - a bit like Stanley's kitchen at sea.
HMS_Triumph_1950.jpg

Looking closely at that photo I guessed that there were two different types of fighter there, both with pointy wing tips. Perhaps late models of Supermarine Seafire and Fairy Firefly. I tracked down the photo and the accompanying text says "Seafires at the front and Fireflys at the rear". If you look half way down the deck you'll see that at least one plane has a 6-bladed contra-rotating propeller. This would be a very late model Seafire. Sorry, you didn't need all that information but I can't resist it!

[Stanley]

This post should be 'Not Seen In the News'. The navy is keeping stum about the Prince of Wales. If there was any good news I suspect we would have heard it by now. My guess is that it's a major problem and will require dry-docking at Rosyth..... What a fiasco.....
Later... I found THIS obscure site that seems to offer an explanation about what happened. According to them the ship hit 'something on the sea bed' and sources on board say that it will head for dry dock in Amsterdam.
No doubt we will hear more shortly from official sources.

[Big Kev]

I'm still intrigued as to why they want to go back to the moon after 50 years.

Nasa says it's going back to the Moon as part of a stepping stone to learn how to get to Mars. But researchers say there is also unfinished business at the Moon, scientifically. There is more we need to understand about lunar origins, and by extension the formation and early evolution of the Earth.
Future Artemis missions will target the lunar South Pole where permanently shadowed craters hold reserves of ice.
"Artemis is a series of increasingly complex missions, to explore the Moon in preparation for missions to Mars. When we go to Mars, the more we can learn about what resources are available to us and how to use them, the better prepared we'll be," Nasa's chief scientist Kate Calvin told BBC News.

[Tizer]

I found THIS obscure site that seems to offer an explanation about what happened. According to them the ship hit 'something on the sea bed' and sources on board say that it will head for dry dock in Amsterdam.
No doubt we will hear more shortly from official sources.

The Telegraph says it was due to not greasing the prop shaft. I kid ye not!
-----------------------------------------------------

This is good news. The more that Trump is muffled, the better for the world!
`Trump's Truth Social barred from Google Play' LINK
`Former US President Donald Trump's social media platform has been barred from Google Play. Google says the platform violates its policies on prohibiting content like physical threats and incitement to violence. The move makes it difficult for users with Android phones to download the app. Devin Nunes, the CEO of Truth Social, has previously called Google a "monopoly". Truth Social launched on Apple's App Store in February, though the roll-out was beset by problems. However, the app isn't available on Google Play, where the vast majority of apps are downloaded on Android phones.....
`Critics argue that Truth Social has a problem with disinformation and hate speech. A report released on Monday found 47 verified accounts that promoted QAnon conspiracy theories on the platform.'...

[Stanley]

There is nothing in the news about the breakdown of HMS Prince of Wales. Could it be that the Navy is too embarrassed to speak or is it because the spin doctors are frantically searching for a form of words to use to convey the news to us that the white elephant is useless?
Later.... I heard a Border Force spokesperson saying that the policy of sending migrants to Rwanda had made no difference, if anything it had stimulated the traffic as the people smugglers warned the migrants that whilst the policy wasn't yet in full flow it would soon be a serious matter.

[Tizer]

Stanley, see the first line of my previous post. A prop shaft hadn't been greased, according to the newspapers.

Meanwhile in Russia, life as normal...
`Russian oil chief Maganov dies in 'fall from hospital window'' LINK

[Stanley]

I meant nothing official Peter. Rumours that someone missed a grease nipple don't cut it for me I'm afraid.
See THIS report from a usually reliable source. The carrier needs to be put in dry dock at Rosyth and will be there for quite a while because her five year hull inspection will be brought forward and be done at the same time as the repair. The breakdown was the failure of a coupling in the shaft.

[Stanley]

Serena Williams finally lost and has retired. What a wonderful career.

[Tripps]

The rocket is being prepared to go to the moon. They're pumping tons of liquid Oxygen and Nitrogen now. It's about six hours to take off.
Artemis
When it lands, and later returns to earth, with the first woman on board amongst others, later in the program - it (I assume) will take all the fuel it needs for the return take off and journey with it. I assume the crew will be sitting on a tank of liquid Oxygen etc during their stay . How does it stay liquid - just pressure?

Some one tell me please that I'm stupid to have any doubts about it all. I can't doubt what I see, but something's not quite right.

PS They've got a leak - seems they've sent to Walmart for some of this Gorilla Tape

As it very aptly says- " for the Toughest Jobs on Planet Earth®. "

[Tizer]

The second launch has been called off. They should take it as a big hint that it's a daft idea and the money could be much better spent sorting out Earth's problems with the human race.

NB. Grumpy Putin won't like this...
`Mikhail Gorbachev: Thousands pay respects to last Soviet leader' LINK

[Tripps]

An 'expert' has just said on GB News Rado that they may try again on Monday, but the rocket has a self destruct device which is triggered if it seems to be going to go out of control, and may harm humans. That sounds sensible - but it has a battery which will go flat by next Wednesday ! Then the whole rocket will have to be moved from the launch pad to the workshop for a new battery to be installed. The Duracell Battery Company missed an opportunity there. Perhaps they could have got their battery bunny on board instead of Wallace and Gromit.

I wish I was making all this up - but I'm not. How true it is though - I can't say.

[Stanley]

"They're pumping tons of liquid Oxygen and Nitrogen now"
Hydrogen I think David, nitrogen doesn't burn very well.....
Artemis doesn't worry me but the case of the missing aircraft carrier does. Wouldn't it be refreshing if someone stood up and admitted this is a massive cock-up and told us what was being done about it.

[Tizer]

"They're pumping tons of liquid Oxygen and Nitrogen now". Hydrogen I think David, nitrogen doesn't burn very well.....

The fuel is a mix of oxygen and hydrogen but liquid nitrogen is used as a coolant during the launch so an uncontrolled leak of that would stop a launch too.

Remember Banks and Farage?...
`Aaron Banks ‘writes off £7m loan’ as Leave.EU goes into liquidation: Brexit campaign group fronted by Nigel Farage leaves thousands in unpaid fines for data law breaches' LINK
`The Brexit campaign group Leave.EU has gone into liquidation with its controversial co-founder Arron Banks appearing to write off a loan worth more than £7m. Documents submitted to Companies House also reveal that the anti-EU lobbying group, which was fronted by Nigel Farage during the 2016 EU referendum campaign, has failed to pay tens of thousands in fines owed to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for breaches of data law. Yet the decision by Banks to apparently write off £7,051,987 in loans to Leave.EU will attract most controversy after years of speculation over the source of his funding to the EU referendum campaign.'...

Max Hastings had a Comment article in The Times yesterday which was well crafted to imply Truss was dangerous and not PM material without actually saying it. In passing he also lambasted our politicians for ignoring all the warnings of impending Russian military activity and for trashing our European allies when it was obvious we most needed them.

[Tripps]

The fuel is a mix of oxygen and hydrogen but liquid nitrogen is used as a coolant during the launch

I did mean Hydrogen, and intended to correct it, but I forgot to do so. Sorry. Thanks for the get out clause though.

It seems it's so much easier on the return journey. Take off

[Tripps]

As mentioned previously - Hong Kong Chinese are arriving here at a curent rate of 2,500 per week.

Chinese arrivals

What could possibly go wrong?

That was from January 2022.

I just saw a long item on the main BBC TV News about Chinese arriving in Warrington - in numbers. Just caught the end, and it may have been an inserted / stand alone separate item. All young, good looking, apparently intelligent speaking perfect English, and saying they will remain in UK for the rest of their life. One said her flat in HK would fund three houses in Warrington, and sounded as if she would buy them.

The organiser who was doing video tours of suitable properties, was asked if this would produce an enclave of Chinese in Warrington. "Probably" - he said.

[Stanley]

I heard a short radio interview with some of the HK migrants. They were all articulate and glad to be here (even though they have arrived just in time for our great inflation and recession!) I wish them well and hope they aren't disappointed.

[Tizer]

We predicted this would happen when the changes were first announced. It's going to be another source of chaos...
`Highway Code: 61% of drivers have not read new guidance, AA survey suggests'

[Tripps]

I'm watching the result. Andrew Stephenson is the warm up act. I think that's Therese Coffey sitting behind Liz Truss. I thought I'd heard her suggested for Health Minister. Seems it's true Therese Coffey

I've just seen her full length standing up perhaps for the first time. Without being unkind - perhaps the 'optics' are not brilliant.

[Tizer]

Any news of Kemi Badenoch? Is she one of Truss's chosen? I'd prefer her as PM than Truss. And how is the Bring Back Boris campaign going, I wonder.

[Whyperion]

I'm still intrigued as to why they want to go back to the moon after 50 years.

To stop China claiming the mineral rights ?

[Tizer]

When I saw a headline about `Fresh wave of sewage' I thought it referred to the latest round of political appointments but, no, it's those water companies again... LINK
Note the sentence: Southern Water's data also show it has released untreated water on 95 occasions since the beginning of September.

[Stanley]

Has anybody ever published comparative figures with the days before the industry was privatised?
I seem to remember that at the time of the privatisation surge under Thatcher (Macmillan said she was 'selling the family silver'] some of us were saying that profits should not be taken out of public services.... I look at the profits being taken out of them now (and yes energy is a prime example) and wonder how we kitchen table experts could be so much closer to the truth than the politicians who assured us all was well, 'The Market know best' and that competition would automatically result in better service....
I rest my case. I stand with Nye Bevan on control of the commanding heights.