Things Noticeable this week

[Greenman]

Seems as though poor old Tony Blackburn has been made a scapegoat in the findings of the Jimmy Savile case and was sacked by the BBC this morning. A real shame as Blackburn was accused seducing a 15 yr old girl, but it was later withdrawn, and he was cleared of any wrongdoing. A dark day for the BBC, having to apologise to the victims(rightly so) and losing a long-standing stalwart like Blackburn. They were found not guilty of being culpable as a Corporation. Some of the conclusions reached by Dame Janet Smith about Savile and Hall are nauseating in the extreme-what a pair of scum-bags!




I also noticed that the mighty Flying Scotsman steam engine has been reborn and ran from London to York this morning-it will be going on tour this year. One passenger, former politician and now presenter of a railway travel series, Michael 'choo-choo' Portillo was aboard-complete with garish green jacket! In an era of smartphones, clever cars and other gadgets and amazing futuristic machines, it is nice to know that something like a steam engine(although environmentally unfriendly burning all that fossil fuel(coal) ) can still get the crowds going and people practically wet themselves to travel on a piece of the past and our history. The Scotsman was the first railway engine to travel at 100mph too. Toot, toot!

[otokonomidori]

Originally Posted by Greenman

) and people practically wet themselves to travel on a piece of the past and our history.

Steam trains are fine till they stop in a tunnel - up till I was about 14 the trains to Glasgow were steam and they always stopped somewhere in the long tunnels coming into the city - after a couple of minutes you couldn't breathe

[vannax]

Originally Posted by gedly

Now, if I understand this cartoon correctly, I've heard quite a few say that Trump would use the wall to keep Americans in as well. Still, there's always Canada (where some Americans already go to get free health care illegally). There might also be a lot of people heading to Florida, quite keen on sailing to Cuba.

There is no such thing as free healthcare.
Those who come to Canada to get it "illegally" are just sponging money out of Canadians. Heck, the Syrian invaders get better healthcare than Canadian Citizens. Canadians don't get dental coverage, but the invaders do, all on the poor Canadian taxpayer's back.
The Ontario government is about to stick it to the working class again with a 5 cent/liter "carbon" tax.
***spit***

[Greenman]

Originally Posted by otokonomidori

Steam trains are fine till they stop in a tunnel - up till I was about 14 the trains to Glasgow were steam and they always stopped somewhere in the long tunnels coming into the city - after a couple of minutes you couldn't breathe

Some might say the same thing of being stuck on the Underground during a roasting hot Summer in London with no available water and in the dark. All trains no matter what configuration they are(steam, diesel, electric etc) can be subject to a breakdown either out in the open or in a tunnel. What we should be concerned about is whether the crew of the train are able to cope and can implement proper emergency procedures to help people that might be stuck.

Mind you there are some fine films that have featured old trains - one that springs to mind - the fight sequence with Sean Connery & Robert Shaw in 'From Russia With Love' or if you want steam then 'The Titfield Thunderbolt', 'The Railway Children' and of course the Harry Potter series of films. My point is that steam seems to conjure up some sort of magic and mystery for people and that is carried over from childhood to adulthood. As I said environmentally-speaking it is not good and of course can be dangerous.

[vannax]

Wrongthink and thoughtcrime in the UK:

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/647...called-website

Looks like you need another Fawkes, but a successful one.

[tsunamiSD]

San Diego State - Possible Mission Valley Stadium?

The Chargers released a statement on Tuesday saying the team will pursue a downtown stadium with a convention center expansion component. In making their case, one thing in the Chargers statement that caught my eye was that "the downtown multi-use facility would also free up the existing Mission Valley site for potential use by educational institutions such as San Diego State and UCSD, as well as for a large riverfront park."
That was one of the most positive ideas I've heard expressed amid all the hand-wringing over this issue the past year. Rather than a new NFL stadium, a higher and better use for the Mission Valley site would be for western expansion of the SDSU campus, perhaps including classrooms, housing, retail ... and maybe even a 40,000-seat college stadium (that also could house an MLS team).
Colorado State has broken ground on a $220 million on-campus stadium with capacity for 40,000 people. It is scheduled to open in time for the 2017 season. That cost is a drop in the bucket compared to the numbers you see thrown around these days. Maybe we can borrow the Rams' blueprints. That would save a few million right there.

[9876543210]

Greenman,

Originally Posted by Greenman

I also noticed that the mighty Flying Scotsman steam engine has been reborn and ran from London to York this morning-it will be going on tour this year. One passenger, former politician and now presenter of a railway travel series, Michael 'choo-choo' Portillo was aboard-complete with garish green jacket! In an era of smartphones, clever cars and other gadgets and amazing futuristic machines, it is nice to know that something like a steam engine(although environmentally unfriendly burning all that fossil fuel(coal) ) can still get the crowds going and people practically wet themselves to travel on a piece of the past and our history. The Scotsman was the first railway engine to travel at 100mph too. Toot, toot!

Just caught a little about the Scotsman on the BBC. Seems like a pretty nice train and worth a trip.

[CARLTON BROWN]

Originally Posted by vannax

Wrongthink and thoughtcrime in the UK:

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/647...called-website

Looks like you need another Fawkes, but a successful one.

Democracy is a myth in the UK I'm afraid!

[vannax]

Originally Posted by CARLTON BROWN

Democracy is a myth in the UK I'm afraid!

Indeed. Carlyle's fourth estate is now essentially a branch of a fifth column.

[vannax]

Sad to say, but it's looking like much of Europe should welcome total collapse:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opini...d=ss_tw-bottom

http://nyheder.tv2.dk/krimi/2016-02-...-ytringsfrihed

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...ty-senior.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz41BPpwxXY


...and so on.

It's sad to watch a once mighty civilization die this way.