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On another random thought track, walking along a deserted train platform as the train company reduced their services and the trains in service are buckling under this heatwave, I wondered if the doomsday preppers inadvertently got it right for the wrong reasons. The earth is getting drier and food will become more scarce. Having a decent sized bunker underground with enough food to last one or two generations and enough weapons to defend it from all but bunker buster bombs may result in them surviving heree others fall, and fornicating a brave new world..

Actually he does have form.. Not only as a councillor in Manchester, but also as a an ex parliamentarian and secretary of state (cabinet minister): https://members.parliament.uk/member/1427/career I honbestly wish my house was completed and sold.. He is likely to suff things up more than most.

Yes thanks for the corrections. I was typing from memory and that's in a poor state of repair these days. Gerry's wife was a Kiwi, I used to wonder if he'd ever get married, they must have really clicked when he first met her. He was a bit reserved around women when I knew him, but he had a sense of humor and I don't think he realized that that was enough to get the women in (I should say "girls", we were all pretty young then, in our late teens). It hits me hard when friends lose their lives. Another was a young tradesman, a conscript too, in my platoon at basic training. He was blown up in a crater that the N/Vietnamese had booby trapped, his Dad told me years later when I called him. They ran into an ambush and ran for cover. I read about his death in a newspaper at the same time I was doing kitchen duty that night. It was a shock that took me a week to shake off, a young tradesman dying like that for no good reason.

China?

Making large steps in nuclear power development as well as India

Correct.

It's some of the lines from Stings "Every Breath You Take". Not exactly as in the song, but it reads, "Every breath you take, every move you make, I'll be watching you". The accurate wording is "Every breath you take, and every move you make, Every bond you break, every step you take, I'll be watching you".

Correct.

Probably Making the best effort of any country with regard to addressing climate change. Compare to Trump who says it's FAKE. Nev

There was a Large number of Dutch Nationals on that MH Plane. GON, I also went to Granville tech doing Organic chemistry for one Year. Nev

I want to be sedated... Ramones

Eye yam wall ross cuckoo cashew --- I am the walrus, coo coo cachoo -- The Beatles.

GON, it wasn't a KLM plane, it was a Malaysia Airlines flight, MH17. And your mates name is actually spelled Gerry. It was a very sad event, made worse by the lack of acknowledgement or responsibility for downing the aircraft, on the Russians part. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-08-15/victorian-mh17-victims-formally-identified/5672970 Why didn't you go back to fitting and turning at Hawker-DeHavilland after you did your NS? It was obligatory for businesses to hold job positions open for their employees doing National Service. QUOTE: "Under the National Service Act 1964, employers were legally obligated to hold positions open for employees who were called up for compulsory military duty. Key Details of the Mandate: Reinstatement Obligation: Employers had to restore servicemen to their previous positions (or an equivalent role) as soon as practicable upon their completion of full-time service. Terms and Conditions: The returned employee was entitled to the same salary, status, and seniority they would have achieved if they had not been conscripted. Eligibility Rules: To qualify, the employee typically needed to have been employed by the business for a set period prior to their call-up."

Of course - Granville Tech. I might mention that a fellow apprentice, who was an avid scuba diver, eventually went to live in Marracoota on the south coast. He more or less started the abalone business down there, which grew tremendously and paid good money, everyone got in on it. He met a woman and got married there, had three offspring. I can mention his name because he and his wife were passengers on that fatal plane brought down by the Russians, so the story goes. Jerry Menke. R.I.P. We worked together for a little while in H/Dehavilland's laboratory as apprentices. We travelled home on the train together. I think he was of Dutch descent hence flying in a KLM plane. You remember that don't you? the plane that was brought down by a rocket. Very sad story.

The western hope in admitting China to WTO was that it would become more democratic. That didn't work. Globalism has failed. The reason China did so well is they bent the WTO trade rules when it suited them and have large subsidies from the government. Now they are weaponising that success.

All western nations outsourcing their manufacturing to the "third world" and hollowing out their manufacturing capabilities and therefore being vulnerable to supply chain issues and other governments that weaponise trade. It's our fault too. We like cheap goods. But globalism has failed.

Well Trump doesn't grab ME at all and never has. I agree 100% with his Neice Mary, about his condition and suitability for the POTUS role. There was a TV show called "That's MY Bush". A satire which ran for a (short) while . I think I saw about 3 Episodes. Incredibly funny. BTW I think Bush is Fanny-hair. I've lived a very sheltered Life so feel free to correct me If I'm wrong. Nev

I don't see it that way. Nobody has any real idea how this New guy from Birmingham will perform.. The type of Media people HEAPING on him would make ME think Starmer HAS to be OK or why would they want rid of him? . He earned his Knighthood, He did not JUST inherit it like most useless clots do.. Britain is changing leaders far too often for it's own good. With the Tories it was mind bending and look where they are. Nev

Not a huge surprise. As soon as Burnham won his electorate it was a foregone conclusion.

Just announced on the news - Starmer has announced he is stepping down and planning the handover.

I saw a woman protesting something Dubya had done, holding a sign saying "Bush is another word for 'c**t' ". Wonder what that makes the meaning of "Trump"?

It gets hot there often. It's common to take a break in the heat of the day then come back later to work and eat about 2200. Nev

They have an economy Managed by the State which exists in a free trade World.. (in theory) which cannot cope with China's success and efficiency. No Place in history has been transformed so completely to lift wealth and facilities and with a large Population as well. It would still be Likely the way the West has treated them has NOT been forgotten and why would it? Nev

With temperatures like that I bet there wasn't much civility in Seville.