badgerx16

Of course he was, the Roswell alien confessed.

Apollo 11 suffered computer problems during it's descent to the lunar surface, used up more fuel than it was supposed to, came in too quickly on approach, and missed it's planned landing zone.

Enough fuckwits willing to donate to his appeals on Truth Social.

That nobody watches.

Don't forget the Japanese lander that also toppled over.

Perhaps an increase in Government income might help - maybe try raising taxes.

...if Mara and Sulemana had a brain cell between them.

This is a far higher level than Birmingham.

You could program a keyboard shortcut for that comment.

eBay auction ?

Is Fraser actually there ?

Manning doesn't look comfortable on a football pitch.

Generally what is happening is that Councils are shredding every non-statutory Department. That might be Libraries and other cultural services such as Art Galleries or support for theatres - Birmingham is closing down ALL cultural services. Some Councils have shut down CCTV monitoring in city centres, others reduce the number of staff working in services such as Planning to the minimum required to process applications to the absolute Legal minimum service level. Ancilliary support services for schools, such as peripatetic music teachers might be paid off, highways maintenance is pared to the minimum possible, ( pothole repairs etc ), and basically anything that is not specifically tied down by Statute is in the line of fire. Basically this boils down, for Unitary Councils like Somerset, to Education and Social Services getting ring fenced, everything else can go. In my particular case, a section of 45 staff was cut down to less than 30, with most of my work actually ending up being added to an existing outsourcing IT contract - without saving anything as the outsourcing costs increased.

Have a look and find out how many the 4 districts that combined to form the Council had previously cut in the last 10 years. Before it was abolished to form the Unitaries, Somerset CC had already cut £130M in the previous 8 years.

Quills

Local Government financing is a joke, as the Government will always spin the line that 'efficiency' will drive service improvement whilst funding is slashed. As part of the 'efficiency savings' that saw one local authority's funding cut by 45% over this period, I can honestly say that such as assertion is bullshit. You cannot take away with one hand and at the same time expect more and more services to come under LA control. Part of the problem historically has been Business Rates, where the locally collected monies are pooled by Westminster then apportioned back out by way of a formula that does not recognise local social issues. As an example, Blackpool was a 'net contributor' to the national BR pool, meaning it got back less than it collected, yet Croyden was a 'net beneficiary', getting apportioned more than it collected. There are also many other smaller issues that impact LA finances; Coucils pay out Housing Benefits on behalf of the DSS, but do not get recompensed for the full amount they pay out, a percentage is retained by the DSS that is supposed to account for fraud, and the LA is meant to recover these monies through pursuing fraudulent claims. Generally, the amount the central Department retains is more than the amount of fraud committed. However, overall it is simply that central Government, especially the Tories since Osborne was Chancellor, see Local Government as the main focus for austerity, as it is a far less emotive issue than trying to restrict NHS funding. They cut the central funding and tell the Councils they can raise Council Tax to compensate, then restrict the percentage by which C-Tax can be raised such that there is a shortfall in the Councils' funding.

In amongst the WW2 whataboutery, what is the view on whether the reponse to Oct 7th would have been different with a less Nationalist Israeli Government ?

The American justification was to stop the war without the need for a full scale invasion of Japan, the casualties from which would have been horrendous on both sides. The bombing of Hiroshima was intended to be the leverage for this, but after the bombing there was a significant risk of a military coup in Japan, as a result of which fanatical elements of the army, who formed the Governmenrt, would have driven the nation to utter destruction rather than suffer the ignomy of surrender, so the second bomb was dropped - Nagasaki was the 'alternative' target, the orginal was masked by cloud. After the second bomb was dropped, factions close to the Emperor managed to regain control and the Emperor, who up to that point was rarely seen and never spoke publicly, made a national broadcast announcing that Japan would surrender. ( One side conspiracy theory has it that the bombs had to be dropped to frighten Stalin with this new wonder weapon, but tthe Russians already knew about them ).

The first bombs dropped on Berlin were delivered on 7th June 1940 when a single French air force bomber flew there. Goering is reported widely to have said ''If a single bomb falls on Berlin, you can call me Meyer'' - 'Meyer' being a German insult, however what he actually said referred to the Ruhr industrial area rather than Berlin.

That is an interesting question on which University theses could be written, and would need to cover the political situation, the evolving theories of military aviation tactics in the 1930s, the practicalities of navigation and target identification, the limited accuracy of bomb aiming technology, and the morale impact at home and in Germany. In reality there was little strategic or tactical advantage to be gained, and the impact was far less than was anticipated, but for the hierarchy of Bomber Command in 1940-44, and with the need to be seen to be ''hitting back', their zealous, though misguided, belief that wars could be won solely by strategic bombing justified it for them.

The new atrium / entrance at Blackpool Victoria Hospital, which looks more like an airport than a hospital. It is welcoming, bright, and contains a COSTA COFFEE, an M&S food outlet, a WH Smith's, obviously a pharmacy.........and less obviously - a travel agency.

is there justification for turning Gaza into ''a pile of rubble'' and forcibly displacing the entire population ?

in the Rochdale by-election there are 11 candidates including the non-Labour Labour candidate, a former Labour MP for the seat who was kicked out of the party for sending inappropriate messages to a 17 year old, Gorgeous George Galloway who seems to campaigning on behalf of Gaza, the Greens have disowned their original candidate over racist SM messages he posted and are instead supporting an independant, an ex vicar, who has the threat of a prison term hanging over him for participating in 'non-violent' just-stop-oil protests, the Tory has gone on holiday instead of campaigning, and of the total list there are 0 women.

I don't think that 4 months after the original atrocity Israel would stop even if all the remaining hostages were released today. That does not grant objective number 1 - the eradication of Hamas'.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-68400463