Mandy Lifeboats

Did she last long enough for the ink to dry?

Few people know the correct answer. I certainly don’t. But it wouldn’t be triggered by a single factor. I would be fairly certain that the BBC World Service being off air for x number of days would be one of them. Regardless of what Hollywood likes to portray a nuclear war would not wipe out humanity. There would be foreign news reports on their radio stations. Again, it would need more than just 1 station broadcasting 1 news report that was actually part of a radio-drama. I would guess that the amount of air traffic throughout the world would be a factor. Airline flights would drop to zero.

The Captain of our nuclear submarines have a protocol if they ever lose total contact with command. It's quite an eye-opener. They conduct certain checks to see if a nuclear war has begun. If they believe the UK has been hit by a major nuclear attack they open a letter kept in the safe which is handwritten by the PM. This letter tells them what to do. No letter has ever been opened and they are destroyed unopened when the PM changes. Our deterrent is that even if a massive surprise attack took out the UK there is still a very good chance that we would retaliate.

Doing that makes no sense. It would ruin land that Russia hopes to keep. Fallout could blow onto Russia or Russian Troops. Biden has already said that the use of a nuke would see US boots on the ground in 48 hours. I don’t think he’s bluffing. My guess is that NATO would do one or all of the following. 1. Establish air superiority over Ukraine 2. Sink the Black Sea fleet using conventional weapons. 3. Close the Black Sea to all Russian shipping. (Turkey) 4. Close the Baltic Sea to all Russia shipping (Denmark/Norway) 5. Strike Russian Airbases near Ukraine with conventional weapons targeting the runways.

It’s a wise investment if you can. The alternative is renting. Your rent is effectively paying your landlord’s mortgage. He’s benefiting in the long run. The key is to buy affordable property and then work upwards. I couldn’t possibly afford to have the house I have now without the property that went before it. A flat funded a mid-terrace. That mid-terrace funded a 3 bed detached. That 3 bed funded a 4 bed detached.

I’d say almost zero chance. It would take a madman to issue the order followed by several levels of command following a ridiculous order, the US/NATO not finding out beforehand and taking it out AND it actually detonating.

I very much doubt it. 1. There is no such thing as a tactical nuke. It’s just a term for a small nuke used against a specific military target rather than a larger nuke used against more strategic targets like cities. Ukraine’s main military assets are very close to Russia or Russian Troops. 2. Fallout would blow into Russia or NATO territory. NATO wouldn’t be happy bunnies. 3. China has a strict policy on nukes. The first to launch automatically becomes their enemy. China would not be happy bunnies. 4. Nukes are weapons of last resort. Russia using a nuke to retain Crimea makes as much sense as the UK using a nuke to retain the Isle of White. 5. The famous leaked US document of a few months ago outlined the US’s infiltration of the Russian Military. Some orders reached the Pentagon before they reached their intended recipient. The US could easily find out about the nuke threat and take it out. Believe me as an ITK, Russia uses its nukes as a threat to undermine public opinion. It’s not yet a legitimate threat.

I thought the same about Steve-O. Some of the videos he posted were truly scary. But he has really turned his life around.

Another round of mobilisation looks necessary. Ukraine seems to be able to walk over the border at will in some places. There is also a complete lack of armed forces to put down rebellion or secure vital assets within Russia. But mobilisation will kill an already fragile economy and lead to skill shortages in certain sectors. Russia admitted that the last round cased 250,000 people to leave Russia. The EU estimated the figure to be much higher. Some who can't flee might be tempted to join Partisan Groups as an alternative. My biggest fear is that Putin will simply buy a large number of soldiers from North Korea instead. Or allow Wagner to do that under the smokescreen of private military contractors. Russia is far from spent as a military power against a force the size of Ukraine. But its now at a point where NATO could probably destroy the entire conventional armed forces of Russia in days.

Well worth a watch. I have been following this channel since the start of the war. There has been a definite shift in attitudes. The girl on 3:28 knows exactly what’s going on. She also appears later in the video.

I know. In addition to the 1/80 of your final salary per year of service you ALSO get 3 years pension as a lump sum at 60. The flipside is that my salary isn't on par with the private sector.

We are both on civil service pensions. The old scheme was in place until 2021 and is very simple. For every year of service you get 1/80 of your final salary as a yearly pension. You also get a lump sum. Both payable at 60. After 2021 it’s more complicated. For every year of service you get about 2.5% of that years salary as a yearly pension. But payable at 67.

Shamon!!!’

In a few months I will be lucky enough to be semi retired at 53. I shall do a few bits of part time work but my days of full time work are over. I have a mixture of investments that I can draw upon if needed. I get my final salary pension at 60. A smaller index linked occupational pension is payable at 67 along with the state pension. The thought of working full time until 67 horrifies me. I honestly think the Facebook/instagram generation are in trouble. Many try to lead the fake lives they see others portraying. You don’t need a new car every year. You’ll probably enjoy 2 weeks in the Canary Islands as much as a long weekend in Dubai. You don’t need a solid oak dressing room with chrome coat hangers. We only get one life and I intend to enjoy it. But I do shake me head in despair when I hear people running up massive credit car bills in order to buy the latest I-phone or a £600 handbag for their besties wedding. It might be nice to have these things. But the most precious thing we have is time. I’m incredibly glad that in my 20s I choose paying off the mortgage instead of buying the very latest laptop with 512k of memory, , buying 154 Lilliput Lane cottages for Mrs Lifeboats or proudly walking around Wolverhampton in a red leather jacket from the Thriller video.

I hide my original post when I realised this. I doubt there are many people n this discussion who it impacts.

Prigozhin is at it again.

Minack - Amongst the things I have seen there was Anthony and Cleopatra. It was an adaptation by an amateur company from Derby. They were very good It was a lovely warm day. The play was reaching its crescendo. Anthony was standing centre stage with the sun setting behind him. An exhausted Roman Legionnaire runs onto the stage and in a broad Derby accent says > Anthony! As thee sin Cleopatra?

Even if theatre isn’t your thing - it’s still amazing.

I haven’t been for a few years. Parking was ridiculously expensive. A fiver for a few hours. You can walk on the cliffs for free. But the famous sign was part of an “experience” package that had to be booked separately. On the flip side- the Minack theatre is worth every penny. Watching a play on the cliff edge with the setting sun behind the stage is an experience like no other. If it’s not raining………

Exactly this. I can’t believe they charge people for the “experience”.

I think it’s straight line distance. I think John O’Groats and Land’s End are used as specific, fixed points and for ease. Beaches and headlands are normally tidal so the edge of land can never be defined. There must be an infinite number of points when measuring between 2 crumbling cliff faces. It’s interesting that we also refer to a “straight line” distance when it’s actually a slightly curved line.

This is a very important point - depression and happiness are not connected in any way. Wealth and success will probably make you happy. Wealth and success will definitely NOT cure depression.

In which case......... Trivia Quiz - What 2 points of the uk mainland are furthest apart?

Norway and North Korea are only separated by 1 country.

Its claim to fame is that it is one of two points on the mainland that are furthest apart.