Posts by Heero Yuy

Quote from The Sun:

Prince Charles and Prince William are “totally aligned” that there is “no way back” for Prince Andrew over his links to dead paedophile pal Jeffrey Epstein, according to a report.

Andrew, 61, was seen making a rare public appearance at his father’s funeral on Saturday – before leaving in his new £220,000 Bentley.

But it seems he is not part of the future plans for the Royal Family as Charles and William look to create tailor made roles for the seven senior members of The Firm, reports The Mirror.

Both future kings are said to be “completely focussed” on supporting the Queen as she mourns the loss of her husband, Prince Philip.

It is believed the pair have scheduled a meeting to establish new roles and set up major tours for members of the family.

Palace sources reportedly told The Mirror both agree there is no way back for Andrew who quit royal duty 18 months ago over links to Epstein.

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Looks like they've hung him out to dry.

The warmer weather has finally reached us down here on the coast: 15°C at the moment and rising. Up 'til now it's barely managed 12°C and there's been a searching wind. First frost free morning for quite a while.

No rain in the forecast but they're saying it'll get colder towards the end of the week. Hope that's just up North.

Quote from The Sun:

Rescuers win a desperate two-hour fight against rising tides to free nosy dog Broady, who got stuck looking for crabs.

Lifeguards spotted the retriever on Towan Beach in Cornwall and, after failing with the owner to free the pet, alerted the local Newquay Community Fire Station.

Story and pictures on link. Lucky the FB had the right bit of kit to rescue the dog.

Quote from The Sun:

NASA has completed the first controlled flight on another planet following the lift-off of its Mars helicopter-drone, Ingenuity.

The agency announced the successful launch of the ultralightweight robot on Monday following a week of delays caused by technical issues.

The drone flew under two 1.2m-long rotors that spin in opposite directions at up to 2,500rpm.

That's extremely fast – about two -thirds the speed of sound – to give the four-pound (two-kilo) robot lift through thin Martian atmosphere.

The flight took place in the early hours of Monday morning but was only confirmed once data reached mission control three hours later.

"Altimeter data confirms that Ingenuity has performed its first flight – the first flight of a powered aircraft on another planet," announced an engineer in Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory as the control room cheered.

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Story, video and pictures on link.

Quote from Norra Batty

I'm still trying to wok out how it flies with no atmosphere.

There is atmosphere on Mars but it is extremely thin at around 1% of the pressure of that on Earth and mostly Carbon dioxide.

Quote from The Sun. Science:

NASA's Mars helicopter Ingenuity is primed to make its first flight on the Red Planet tomorrow after passing a crucial test.

The ultra-lightweight robot will attempt to take off into the Martian sky during the first controlled flight on another planet.

The planned flight will come following a delay of more than a week due to a possible technical issue.

Images released this afternoon, showed the craft on the planet's surface after successfully completing a high-speed "spin-up" test.

It was captured by the Mastcam-Z instrument on Perseverance on the floor of a vast Martian basin called Jezero Crater.

During the test, the grounded helicopter spun its blades at the speed required for flight - about 2,400 revolutions per minute.

Ingenuity is scheduled to take off at some point today but that could still change, reports Space.com.

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This flight has to be under full computer control as the signals take over 9 minutes to go from Mars to Earth or vice versa so "real time" flight control isn't possible.

Parking revenge:

parking_revenge_4.jpg

Quote from Ron Manager

Diana certainly knew how to play the simpering victim like a pro

My late mother used to work as a welfare assistant at a special needs school. They had a visit by Diana and all the time the cameras were rolling she paid attention to the children but the moment the cameras stopped she ignored them. It really annoyed my mum.

Her public image was carefully crafted.

tl;dr

I didn't watch any of it but a picture in the on-line version of the Sun showed the Queen all on her own during part of the ceremony. Must have been very lonely for her.

Silences have also been abused. Once it was only for remembrance Sunday. Now it's any excuse. Shan't be doing that either.

Quote from OLD BOY

They don’t want to know

None so deaf as those who will not hear.

Quote from The Sun:

No record exists of the top mandarins who were allowed to take second jobs while David Cameron was PM and after, The Sun can reveal.

Whitehall bosses are furious that efforts to find out who is moonlighting have been hamstrung by “a total lack of paper trail” from the days of ex-Cabinet Secretary Jeremy Heywood, who died in 2018.

A senior Government source said the current Cabinet Secretary, Simon Case, is “livid” about the slapdash way it seems some were given permission to work in the private sector.

One source even claimed “it seems it was a bit of a wild west under Heywood”.

Mr Case has given colleagues until close of play today to confess to any outside work as officials try to contain the scandal over well paid second jobs.

And his concerns were echoed last night by anti-sleaze boss Lord Pickles, who told MPs his “eyebrows did rise the full quarter inch” when he heard about the arrangements.

Giving evidence to a Commons committee, the top Tory hit out at a “revolving door” culture between the civil service and big firms.

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Seems to have been a lack of scrutiny over the civil servants and their moon-lighting.

There's a rather delicious irony here:

Quote from The Sun. Comment:

WITH Mystic Meg-like foresight, David Cameron once predicted that political lobbying would be “the next big scandal waiting to happen”.

It was 2009 and the then Tory leader hit out at the “far-too-cosy relationship between politics, government, business and money”, which he said had “tainted our politics for too long”.

Now, the skies above Cameron’s shepherd’s hut in the Cotswolds are dark with the chickens coming home to roost.

Instead of chillaxing with “his trotters up” — as EastEnders star Danny Dyer once memorably accused him of doing — Cameron is embroiled in the very scandal he predicted.

The ex-Prime Minister stands accused of using his old contacts in government — notably the now Chancellor, Rishi Sunak — to try and get hundreds of millions in taxpayer-funded loans for a company he worked for.

Mr Cameron had shares in the financial services firm Greensill Capital that he reportedly hoped could net him a £43million windfall.

Accusations of Tory sleaze — the war cry which laid ruin to John Major’s administration — have landed in old sparring partner Boris Johnson’s lap like an Eton mess.

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Any chance this can rope in that other chinless wonder Osborne?

Quote from The Sun:

US warships steaming towards the Black Sea have reportedly turned back after Russia warned Joe Biden's military to steer clear of the region.

Turkish diplomatic sources said the passage of the first American ship through the Bosphorus - due to happen on Wednesday - did not take place.

The Anadolu state news agency said both deployments have now been scrapped with Turkey reporting it has not yet been informed of any rescheduling.

The Kremlin had earlier warned US warships to stay well away from Crimea “for their own good”, calling their deployment in the Black Sea a provocation designed to test Russian nerves.

“The United States is our adversary and does everything it can to undermine Russia’s position on the world stage,” Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov was cited as saying by Russian news agencies.

“We do not see any other elements in their approach. Those are our conclusions.”

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Quote from Bibbles

We will just have to have a booster every year, and the scientists are going to have to update the vaccine as we go along.

That is the reality of the situation. We have to live with it and try to get life back to as normal as is possible.

Quote from The Sun:

Critically endangered polar bears have been mating with grizzly bears and the result is a new 'pizzly bear' hybrid.

This is according to experts who claimed to have spotted the pizzly bears in Alaska.

It's thought grizzlies and polar bears are struggling to cope with climate change but their hybrid is better adapted to warming.

Paleontologist Larisa DeSantis told DailyMail.com: "This new type of bear is more resilient to climate change and better suited for warmer temperatures."

Polar bears who rely on sea ice to hunt for their blubber rich prey of seals are now having to move inland to find food because the ice is melting.

Grizzly bears are also said to be moving north because of the warming Arctic and the two bear breeds are meeting in Alaska.

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Story and pictures on link.

Been out earlier and taken the fleece off the very top leaves on the banana palms. One frond has got a kink in the end where the fleece was holding it back Still getting a white frost on surfaces but it's not sub-zero so they should be OK.

Next week should see the back of the very cold weather, some forecasters are predicting a mini heat-wave and 20C.

Grass in the side garden needs a hair-cut but I'm waiting for the celandines to finish flowering. I'll need to steer round the Spanish blue-bells (also a few white and a couple of pink ones) that are just coming out.

Quote from Norra Batty

Talking about Iran where's our terrorist friend

We retired him.

I think he was more Republican Guard.

Regarding Iran's nukes I think we should be spectators rather than participants. and let the Israeli's sort them out.

One thing you can be sure of when her Maj. pops her clogs that the MSM will be completely useless for weeks.

At least with CATV, Sky and Freeview there's plenty of alternative channels.

Quote from mike murphy

I don't think opening everything in one day is a wise move.

Our local Toby Carvery isn't opening their beer garden 'til the 24th and then it's bookings only. That probably really applies in the evenings and weekends as even when things are normal mid afternoons are pretty quiet. I like to drop in for a pint on the way to the supermarket and usually sit outside in good weather.

Bleeding snowing this morning. When's Spring coming?

With the relaxation of covid "rules" my sister is going to drop in on Tuesday after seeing her friend in Worthing who is in their bubble. I'll let her in the side way to the rear garden in-case any curtain twitchers are watching. The back door is secluded. She's bringing her dog Billy so we can see how he behaves in our house. I've agreed to dog sit for her to go away later if it works out OK.

We've both been jabbed and also pretty well isolated.

Quote from OLD BOY

I hope he brings his own sandwiches....

It'll be one slice short of a round.

Back to the media library for this evenings viewing.

Quote from OLD BOY

I have never been one to take pills to alleviate colds, headaches, etc, preferring my body to deal with these things as I am concerned that constantly taking pills makes your body weaker. Similarly, I have never taken a flu vaccine in my life. However, Covid is different and we need to balance the risks. We only have one sensible way out of this, and that is to take the vaccine.

I too avoid taking pills etc unless absolutely necessary. The one exception is that I react very badly to certain insect bites and if bitten take an anti-histamine for two or three days.

Got the Smithsonian channel on at the moment: Aerial America. Much more interesting,.

The BBC are wallowing in it as usual. Even the world service.

At least the foodie channels are as usual.

Quote from Norra Batty

Now that's what I call a Smart TV Well done you

The downside is that we're stuck with the set of built in apps. It has a browser (Opera) but you can't use a keyboard or mouse. Plug one in and it comes up as "unsupported device".

The Media Player works well with the Media Server (Serviio) on my desktop PC though the home network. The server "knows" what formats the TV understands and converts the rest on the fly to MPEG2 streams.

Fortunately our Sony Bravia 42" TV is before they put microphones and cameras in TVs. Traditional remote and the OS is just prior to Sony going over fully to Android.