Current Affairs 2024

[Onelife]

But he has already arrested the "suspects". There'll no doubt be a nice show trial pretty soon at which they will be found guilty.

There was of course a theatre full of people bombed earlier in the war. In Ukraine if I recall. I wonder who did that?

If Ukraine were involved, they need to do what Russia keep doing and deny any involvement.

However, another tragic event where death has no conscience.

[towny44]

Ironic isn't it that 24 hours on Sky News are running her statement, including asking for privacy while she and her young family deal with this, and then cutting to their reporter live outside Windsor Castle dissecting the statement and speculating! Idiots.

One has to accept that the Media and Monarchy feed off each other, therefore one shouldn’t be surprised when an institution that is steeped in secrecy is used by the media to create fictious, or otherwise, stories that keeps public speculation going.

I think most of us will have at some point speculated as to Kate’s wellbeing?

Not all of us OL, I was happy to await her recovery from surgery and respect the couples privacy until she resumed her Royal duties, which sadly has now been delayed due to her cancer scare.

[Mervyn and Trish]

Nor us.

[Mervyn and Trish]

Here in one story is why I have little sympathy for Israel at the moment.

BBC News - Jewish settlers set their sights on Gaza beachfront
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-68650815

[Mervyn and Trish]

Dramatic news from Baltimore this morning, once again demonstrating inept media. We're watching Sky this morning (not our usual but it's a long story....) and despite reporting the vessel involved is a container ship, which is evident from the pictures, they are repeatedly calling it a boat and a tanker. Rant over. Just.

[Onelife]

Here in one story is why I have little sympathy for Israel at the moment.

BBC News - Jewish settlers set their sights on Gaza beachfront
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-68650815

Excuse me from deviating slightly from your post but you should be commended for your humanitarian view point Sir Merv, a view point which seems to be growing around the world. I don’t doubt there is suffering on a monumental scale but I keep asking myself what is the solution to this problem…perhaps you could enlighten me as to what you think will resolve this conflict after a ceasefire?
My personal view is that whilst Hamas rules the country there can never be a workable peace… for this to happen there has to be a mechanism of governance which allows Gazans to freely choose how they wish to govern their country, this can only happen when the ideology of Hamas is removed, Imo.
One should not forget that Hamas not only wants to remove Jews from the history books they also subject their own people to tyrannical rule.
I personally can’t see Gaza’s coastline being swamped with holiday lets… but who knows what the future holds?

[Ray B]

Shocking to see the Bridge come down in Baltimore. The ship, the Dali, looks to have hit the bridge starboard bow. Something drastic must have gone wrong to lose control.

[Mervyn and Trish]

Here in one story is why I have little sympathy for Israel at the moment.

BBC News - Jewish settlers set their sights on Gaza beachfront
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-68650815

Excuse me from deviating slightly from your post but you should be commended for your humanitarian view point Sir Merv, a view point which seems to be growing around the world. I don’t doubt there is suffering on a monumental scale but I keep asking myself what is the solution to this problem…perhaps you could enlighten me as to what you think will resolve this conflict after a ceasefire?
My personal view is that whilst Hamas rules the country there can never be a workable peace… for this to happen there has to be a mechanism of governance which allows Gazans to freely choose how they wish to govern their country, this can only happen when the ideology of Hamas is removed, Imo.
One should not forget that Hamas not only wants to remove Jews from the history books they also subject their own people to tyrannical rule.
I personally can’t see Gaza’s coastline being swamped with holiday lets… but who knows what the future holds?

Hamas wants to wipe out Israel. Right wing Israelis want to wipe out Palestine. What's the difference? The language of the Israelis in the report I quoted is the language of the Nazis. Their call is for holocaust in reverse. The current Israeli action will ultimately reinforce not eliminate Hamas or a successor. All this hate is born of frustration and fear on both sides. In my view the only solution is the two state solution overseen initially by the UN. I'd throw all the ILLEGAL Israeli settlers out of the West Bank and rename that Palestine. In return I'd give the wasteland that used to be Gaza to Israel and rehouse the Palestinians from there in Palestine. And make clear that any future attempted land grabs would be met by international opposition.

[oldbluefox]

Now the media are moving on from Kate they are now encouraging speculation on what could have happened in Baltimore. Could it have been piulot error? Should they have used a tug? Was it a mechanical failure? Did they lose power?
For goodness sake nobody knows what has happened so we have all of these 'so called experts' who know nothing coming up with wild speculation, none of which is based on fact and this is being presented on TV and radio as possibilities. Why do they feed this speculation whilst at the same time supposedly condemning it?!!!!
It is such a dreadful event and my heart goes out to all those affected by it.

[oldbluefox]

Hamas wants to wipe out Israel. Right wing Israelis want to wipe out Palestine. What's the difference? The language of the Israelis in the report I quoted is the language of the Nazis. Their call is for holocaust in reverse. The current Israeli action will ultimately reinforce not eliminate Hamas or a successor. All this hate is born of frustration and fear on both sides. In my view the only solution is the two state solution overseen initially by the UN. I'd throw all the ILLEGAL Israeli settlers out of the West Bank and rename that Palestine. In return I'd give the wasteland that used to be Gaza to Israel and rehouse the Palestinians from there in Palestine. And make clear that any future attempted land grabs would be met by international opposition.

I tend to be in agreement here. Left to their own devices Israel and the Palestinians are never going to come to a lasting agreement. I don't know how illegal land grabs by the Israelis can be justified and they should be stopped.
The problem seems to be how to drive Hamas out without inflicting carnage on ordinary Palestinian people and how to rescue the hostages. Meanwhile Israel should be allowing aid into the Gaza strip for Palestinian people who are innocently caught up in this war.

[towny44]

Here in one story is why I have little sympathy for Israel at the moment.

BBC News - Jewish settlers set their sights on Gaza beachfront
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-68650815

Excuse me from deviating slightly from your post but you should be commended for your humanitarian view point Sir Merv, a view point which seems to be growing around the world. I don’t doubt there is suffering on a monumental scale but I keep asking myself what is the solution to this problem…perhaps you could enlighten me as to what you think will resolve this conflict after a ceasefire?
My personal view is that whilst Hamas rules the country there can never be a workable peace… for this to happen there has to be a mechanism of governance which allows Gazans to freely choose how they wish to govern their country, this can only happen when the ideology of Hamas is removed, Imo.
One should not forget that Hamas not only wants to remove Jews from the history books they also subject their own people to tyrannical rule.
I personally can’t see Gaza’s coastline being swamped with holiday lets… but who knows what the future holds?

Of course it is possible that in a free and fair election, Gazans would choose Hamas, and Israel would be back to square one.
There is no option Suitable to western countries, and definitely none that Israel would accept, except the total elimination of Hamas, which possibly even Israelis consider unlikely.

[Onelife]

Here in one story is why I have little sympathy for Israel at the moment.

BBC News - Jewish settlers set their sights on Gaza beachfront
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-68650815

Excuse me from deviating slightly from your post but you should be commended for your humanitarian view point Sir Merv, a view point which seems to be growing around the world. I don’t doubt there is suffering on a monumental scale but I keep asking myself what is the solution to this problem…perhaps you could enlighten me as to what you think will resolve this conflict after a ceasefire?
My personal view is that whilst Hamas rules the country there can never be a workable peace… for this to happen there has to be a mechanism of governance which allows Gazans to freely choose how they wish to govern their country, this can only happen when the ideology of Hamas is removed, Imo.
One should not forget that Hamas not only wants to remove Jews from the history books they also subject their own people to tyrannical rule.
I personally can’t see Gaza’s coastline being swamped with holiday lets… but who knows what the future holds?

Hamas wants to wipe out Israel. Right wing Israelis want to wipe out Palestine. What's the difference? The language of the Israelis in the report I quoted is the language of the Nazis. Their call is for holocaust in reverse. The current Israeli action will ultimately reinforce not eliminate Hamas or a successor. All this hate is born of frustration and fear on both sides. In my view the only solution is the two state solution overseen initially by the UN. I'd throw all the ILLEGAL Israeli settlers out of the West Bank and rename that Palestine. In return I'd give the wasteland that used to be Gaza to Israel and rehouse the Palestinians from there in Palestine. And make clear that any future attempted land grabs would be met by international opposition.

I agree, and this will, if there is to be a solution have to be part of any future negotiations…not insurmountable if both sides want peace…but I maintain this won’t be possible as long as Hamas are in power.

[Onelife]

Here in one story is why I have little sympathy for Israel at the moment.

BBC News - Jewish settlers set their sights on Gaza beachfront
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-68650815

Excuse me from deviating slightly from your post but you should be commended for your humanitarian view point Sir Merv, a view point which seems to be growing around the world. I don’t doubt there is suffering on a monumental scale but I keep asking myself what is the solution to this problem…perhaps you could enlighten me as to what you think will resolve this conflict after a ceasefire?
My personal view is that whilst Hamas rules the country there can never be a workable peace… for this to happen there has to be a mechanism of governance which allows Gazans to freely choose how they wish to govern their country, this can only happen when the ideology of Hamas is removed, Imo.
One should not forget that Hamas not only wants to remove Jews from the history books they also subject their own people to tyrannical rule.
I personally can’t see Gaza’s coastline being swamped with holiday lets… but who knows what the future holds?

Of course it is possible that in a free and fair election, Gazans would choose Hamas, and Israel would be back to square one.
There is no option Suitable to western countries, and definitely none that Israel would accept, except the total elimination of Hamas, which possibly even Israelis consider unlikely.

In reports I have read 52% of Gazans support Hamas, how many of those do so under the fear of retaliation one can only guess.

[towny44]

Excuse me from deviating slightly from your post but you should be commended for your humanitarian view point Sir Merv, a view point which seems to be growing around the world. I don’t doubt there is suffering on a monumental scale but I keep asking myself what is the solution to this problem…perhaps you could enlighten me as to what you think will resolve this conflict after a ceasefire?
My personal view is that whilst Hamas rules the country there can never be a workable peace… for this to happen there has to be a mechanism of governance which allows Gazans to freely choose how they wish to govern their country, this can only happen when the ideology of Hamas is removed, Imo.
One should not forget that Hamas not only wants to remove Jews from the history books they also subject their own people to tyrannical rule.
I personally can’t see Gaza’s coastline being swamped with holiday lets… but who knows what the future holds?

Of course it is possible that in a free and fair election, Gazans would choose Hamas, and Israel would be back to square one.
There is no option Suitable to western countries, and definitely none that Israel would accept, except the total elimination of Hamas, which possibly even Israelis consider unlikely.

In reports I have read 52% of Gazans support Hamas, how many of those do so under the fear of retaliation one can only guess.

Since the population of Gaza is mainly under voting age, then it's more than likely that almost 99% of voting age Gazans support Hamas.

[Onelife]

Dramatic news from Baltimore this morning, once again demonstrating inept media. We're watching Sky this morning (not our usual but it's a long story....) and despite reporting the vessel involved is a container ship, which is evident from the pictures, they are repeatedly calling it a boat and a tanker. Rant over. Just.

Questions will be asked as to how the design of the bridge allowed the sections to collapse so quickly.

https://twitter.com/BaltimoreBanner/sta ... gr%5Etweet

[towny44]

Dramatic news from Baltimore this morning, once again demonstrating inept media. We're watching Sky this morning (not our usual but it's a long story....) and despite reporting the vessel involved is a container ship, which is evident from the pictures, they are repeatedly calling it a boat and a tanker. Rant over. Just.

Questions will be asked as to how the design of the bridge allowed the sections to collapse so quickly.

https://twitter.com/BaltimoreBanner/sta ... gr%5Etweet

One expert on Sky this morning said that this type of bridge structure was not designed to withstand the loss of one of the supports. So perhaps its fortunate that no collision has caused a catastrophic failure for the 47 years it's been standing.

[oldbluefox]

Apparently they are all linked and brace each other so if one fails you get a domino effect and they all fall.

[Mervyn and Trish]

Exactly that. It's a cantilever bridge and there are hundreds across the world. Very strong but each part balances and supports the next. In a similar vein a triangle is the strongest engineering structure, so long as the three sides are intact. But break one....

Perhaps the bigger questions are why the weak points, the supporting piers, are not better protected from collision in a busy waterway. And why did the collision happen? If you rule our bad weather that would only seem to leave some sort of technical failure or human error.

[barney]

Technical error apparently.
The ship momentarily lost power causing a blackout and no steering.
The rest is history.

[Stephen]

It did look very flimsy as it went down like a pack of cards.

The blame game and compo claims will no doubt be imminent.

I could be getting busy.

[Frank Manning]

Technical error apparently.
The ship momentarily lost power causing a blackout and no steering.
The rest is history.

I am always a bit sceptical when media reports about things to do with shipping. I would be very interested to read the official report, to find out what caused the power outage on the ship. The sequence of events leading to the ship warning the bridge etc. Was it really an SOS? A PANPANPAN would seem more likely.

I have been aboard a ship in a damaging collision which sank a grain elevator. In that case the engine control was via telegraphs to the engineer manouvering the main engine, when the reversing gear did not engage. On these modern ships there is direct bridge control of engines and a power black out however caused, would limit the options for the bridge team. I expect those of you who have sailed into Venice will remember the tug which connects with the stern of the ship to pass the city on the way to the berth. A tug on the stern can quite quickly change the heading and act as a brake. I*m quite surprised that there is not a requirement to have a tug at least standing by until a ship as large as that proceeding with barely good steerage speed has negotiated the upper reaches of the harbour. Hey ho, hindsight I suppose.

[Ray B]

There did not appear to be any Bridge protection systems to deflect a collision, considering the slender design of the bridge supports.

[barney]

The video that I saw this morning was from a fair distance away and clearly showed the first blackout, then a huge puff of smoke, then a second blackout and the ship deviating right towards the pillar. Then corrected to the left but it was too late.

[Mervyn and Trish]

I think they said an emergency generator started. Maybe that was the smoke? But presumably not enough power anyway to have much effect on the ship's motion or direction. I noticed in the BBC report tonight that the river in the background looked pretty fast flowing. They also seem to be speculating now on contaminated fuel. It seems the emergency services did an amazing job in stopping traffic onto the bridge on the short time between the distress call and the impact. Tragic for those who died but sounds like much worse was prevented.

[david63]

Why all of a sudden are we having all this outrage about passports and the EU - we left the EU four years ago and it was known then that anything over 10 years would not be accepted in the EU.

I suppose there will be another outrage when everyone claims that they did not know that they will need an ETIAS sometime next year (unless it is put back again)