Seen in the News

[Stanley]

Ranil Jayawardena. You know who this is of course..... (THIS)
He's in charge of our farming policies for the foreseeable future and I wonder how much he knows about the subject. I hear people saying it doesn't matter, it's an administrative task. I don't agree. But I suppose I'll nave to wait and see..... I am not super optimistic about his slant on policies. For instance he saw nothing wrong with the Australian trade agreement even though it eventually allows unfettered access to our markets without guarantees that standards of welfare are the same as ours.

[Big Kev]

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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-62836057

[Stanley]

Senior members of the Royal Family are heading for Balmoral. Things look as though it could get serious quite quickly....

[Steeplejerk]

She's gone downhill quickly since Prince Philip died.

[Whyperion]

Even faster after appointing Liz Truss.
Why does the Queen persist in trailing around large , hard to heat , homes across half the UK ? I suppose my mum is a bit frail and under the doctors most of the time, but does not get this much fuss

[Whyperion]

Well the Head of The Church of England has gone off this planet. Somewhat of a constant over the last 70 years+, always effectively providing the backdrop to many OGFB members and readers. I did think she would make it to 100 years (of age). I do feel that both her (and Philip) were knocked out by Covid. The End of the New Elizabethan age, I think her more recent Prime Ministers have let her down.

[Tripps]

If that's the best comment you can manage in the cicumstances - I'd give up if I was you.

You delete that and I'll delete this.

[Big Kev]

A sad day. RIP

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[Stanley]

We enter 10 days of official mourning.

[Tizer]

`Smart motorways: Lack of hard shoulder contributed to death - coroner' https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-s ... e-62856699
`...The four-day inquest heard how the Nissan had driven past an emergency refuge on September 9 2022, by about 250 yards and was stranded on the live inside lane and went undetected for 16 minutes and 21 seconds before the crash. Ms Mundy expressed concern that many members of the public appear to wrongly believe that the dozens of cameras which are in place on smart motorways were being constantly monitored by control room staff. She said one witness told the inquest he did not report the stationary Nissan because he believed it would be picked up by the cameras.'...

That's what I would have thought too and, if I'd been driving alone I wouldn't have stopped to use my phone because I'd probably have become another death statistic.

[PanBiker]

was stranded on the live inside lane and went undetected for 16 minutes and 21 seconds before the crash.

That is about the average time for the lane markers to be activated. I reported before that there have been many other deaths on the "smart" sections but not necessarily mentioned by other coroners in their assessments. Makes no difference, a lot of folk are still dead for lack of a continuous refuge area.

[Stanley]

In the desperate rush to give the insatiable rise and rise of traffic another lane to populate we have allowed a policy to be introduced that is pure madness. If someone proposed abolishing all pavements to give traffic more space would it be allowed? On the evidence of 'smart motorways' the answer to that is yes!
Meanwhile, in another part of the forest not affected by our current events the Ukraine forces are smashing Russian occupation troops in the East of the country. (LINK)

[plaques]

Meanwhile, in another part of the forest not affected by our current events the Ukraine forces are smashing Russian occupation troops in the East of the country. (LINK)

Ukraine have only a relatively short time to show that they can succeed in this war. Russia is putting pressure on Western Europe by shutting down its gas supplies. Unfortunately our energy suppliers are inadvertently helping them by making the pain worse through exorbitant profits. The West and the UK must continue to help Ukraine and accept a drop in living standards through energy prices but at the same time Liz Truss must drop her ideological stand of non-intervention of profits and view it as a moral issue that the UK must support.

[plaques]

Seen in the news??? Actually not seen in the news. 21st Anniversary of 9/11 Twin Towers attack. 9/11. We should not forget the thousands of ordinary American citizens who lost their lives in this atrocity. The UK has lost her Magisty Queen Elizabeth 11, but they lost family members.

[Stanley]

I only heard one mention Ken and that was on the R4 regular 'what happened this day in history' slot on Today. I was in Northfield at the time and happened to have the TV on for the weather when the first plane struck. I rang Martha at the College and we watched the whole affair in real time. It was surreal.
You are right, it was a major event and I had to mention it in a public lecture I gave that night, I chose my words very carefully......
I avoided the 'news' as far as possible. Every time I looked we seemed to be in a helicopter watching 7 cars drive from Balmoral to Edinburgh. Mercedes Hearse, Bentley Limo for Princess Anne and 3 range rovers for the rest of the party.
Later.... News that Prince Andrew has been given a new job.... He is to look after Queen Elizabeth's Corgis.....

[Tizer]

News that Prince Andrew has been given a new job.... He is to look after Queen Elizabeth's Corgis.....

I hope the corgis have been contacted for comment on that news!

...7 cars drive from Balmoral to Edinburgh... Mercedes Hearse

Mercedes!! The Duke would be apoplectic! We fought two world wars to keep them out of our great country! [With all due respect to Alf Garnett when he looked out of his window and saw a Volkswagen.]

Mind you, all those dastardly Dachsunds sneaked in - but then the Royal Family itself is a bit German!

[PanBiker]

For the funeral itself they have banned all private jets and have asked that dignitaries arrive via commercial flights. No helicopter transfers and no private limousines for Heads of State at the Abbey. All apparently, will be assembled at an undisclosed venue west of London and taken to the event via coach. They can leave their limousines at the remote venue for collection later. After the funeral they will be transferred via coach back to the remote car park.

This is to meet security and transport logistics for what is likely to be the largest event of its sort yet staged. All agreed by the planners, security services and the traffic and Metropolitan Police.

Yanks aren't happy about Joe on a bus! They will have to suck it up though.

[Stanley]

"Yanks aren't happy about Joe on a bus! "
I'll believe that when I see it!

[Tizer]

In Ukraine the Russians have suffered an embarrassing retreat in the Kharkiv area with the troops abandoning their tanks, guns, ammunition, etc.
`Ukraine war: What will Russia's losses mean for Putin?' LINK By Steve Rosenberg, BBC Russia Editor, Moscow

[Stanley]

News this morning that Joe Biden will be in the armoured limo and bugger congestion. I think the Israeli contingent have declined the bus as well.

[Stanley]

I think THIS comes under the heading of 'Nice timing lads'. Will the last one to leave please turn off the lights.... Clarence house is to be closed down and the staff are redundant. They have been told already.
The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) condemned the decision to announce redundancies during the period of mourning as "nothing short of heartless". "While some changes across the households were to be expected, as roles across the Royal Family change, the scale and speed at which this has been announced is callous in the extreme," said general secretary Mark Serwotka. "Least of all because we do not know what staffing the incoming Prince of Wales and his family might need. "PCS will continue to work with the Royal Households to ensure that those staff have full job security. "We remain committed to supporting those colleagues across the wider Royal Family's estates, whose futures are thrown into turmoil by this announcement at this already difficult time."

[plaques]

Loads of reports on the fight back the Ukrainians are making against the Russians. A number of YouTube posts show satellite images of tanks and bridges that have been damaged by the Ukrainians. Many of these images are taken from private commercial satellites which still show good detail but If these are commercial images how good are the military ones that we hear nothing about? I can understand military intelligence keeping quiet not wishing to "upset" the Russians but we clearly have moved into an age where the big three America, China and Russia know more about other countries than the people living in those countries. Frightening really.

The one thing that really upsets me watching this war unfold is that these are not fantasy computer games where it is all fiction and nobody gets hurt but where every bomb, shell or bullet may kill someones family member. Terrible.

[Stanley]

An interesting point Ken. The military are always way in front of what we are allowed to know in terms of capability. These modern smart missiles that can pin-point targets 50 miles away are another example. We were allowed to see blurred remote images on public media during the campaign in Afghanistan and there is no doubt they are more advanced than that now.
I remember a friend of mine who worked for the NSA at Menwith Hill once telling me that he had spent the day monitoring Russian taxi driver's conversations in Minsk and that was over 40 years ago.....

[Tizer]

Many of these images are taken from private commercial satellites which still show good detail but If these are commercial images how good are the military ones that we hear nothing about?

There are ones that we do know something about and they can manage 10cm resolution, so there are probably even better ones that are still secret.

[Whyperion]

An interesting point Ken. The military are always way in front of what we are allowed to know in terms of capability. These modern smart missiles that can pin-point targets 50 miles away are another example. We were allowed to see blurred remote images on public media during the campaign in Afghanistan and there is no doubt they are more advanced than that now.
I remember a friend of mine who worked for the NSA at Menwith Hill once telling me that he had spent the day monitoring Russian taxi driver's conversations in Minsk and that was over 40 years ago.....

See Ringway Manchester's youtube videos on the use of scanning frequencies when radio comms were analogue, now they are digital and easier to encrypt (which the Russians are not doing on there general chit-chat, of course if it were the British we would make sure (False) information could be heard.