You’ve misunderstood the comment. Has there ever been a time any criticism of Putin doesn’t trigger a response by you?
You’ve misunderstood the comment. Has there ever been a time any criticism of Putin doesn’t trigger a response by you?
Green Tomatoes has 10 x the amount of nicotine compared to Reds. green tomatoes
After the tobacco plant, the highest concentration of nicotine is the EGGPLANT. Things we learn. Georgian Eggplants: Preparing for Winter…
Oh, absolutely! Putin’s red line? Completely ironclad, totally credible, and he would never dream of crossing it. I mean, who doesn’t trust…
Let’s assume, for the sake of argument, that everything you’re saying about Iranian missile accuracy is dead-on (pun intended). Israel…
Looking for something to read before I doze off
Well here you are then.
It’s about David Niven and I am a bit reluctant to post it as it’s rather long, but interesting so here goes.
He was a proper gentleman and I doubt he had any enemies, or at least I am not aware of.
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Who was the most badass actor in Hollywood? Why?
David Niven.
Born in 1910 London, England into a military family. His father served in World War I and died at Gallipoli when David was 5 years old. His maternal grandfather was an officer killed by the Zulus in the Battle of Isandlwana in 1879.
Niven attended a strict private school as a child. Being an incorrigible prankster, he faced frequent corporal punishment and was eventually expelled. He eventually enrolled at the Royal Military College at Sandhurst.
After Sandhurst, he joined the British Army and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Highland Light Infantry.
He was made a lieutenant in 1933 but considered his career to be a dead end in the peacetime army. The last straw for him was mandatory attendance at a lecture on machine guns, which interfered with his plans for dinner with a young lady.
When the general holding the lecture asked if there were any questions, Niven asked “Could you tell me the time, sir? I have to catch a train.” The insubordination earned him an immediate arrest, which led to him and the officer guarding him downing a bottle of whisky. This, in turn, allowed him to escape with help from the same guard and Niven boarded a ship headed for America, resigning his commission by telegraph.
When World War II broke out, he returned home to serve. He was the only British actor in Hollywood to do so and ignored the Embassy’s advice to stay.
Back in Britain, Niven received commando training and became the commander of ‘A’ Squadron in the misleadingly named GHQ Liaison Regiment, better known as Phantom, where he reached the rank of lieutenant-colonel by the war’s end.
Phantom was a unit born as No 3 British Air Mission during the Battle of France. Its job was to stay in forward positions and send back information about the movements of “bomb lines,” areas devoid of Allied troops and thus safe to bomb.
The task was later expanded: patrols of up to 11 men stayed at the front (and sometimes behind enemy lines) monitoring troop movements and listening in on Allied tank radio communications. They then used small, specially-made radios to report back to Corps HQ, giving them clear and up-to-date information on the battle faster than the information could filter through any other line of command.
Over the course of the war, Phantom patrols served in Africa, Italy, Southeast Europe and, of course, France. In Normandy, some jumped with the other paratroopers the night before, while the rest landed on D+1 to move around and report back on the location of all British, Canadian and American troops after the chaos of the night jumps and the first day.
Phantom was also present in other significant battles. During Operation Market Garden, Phantom officers were the only line of communication between the trapped British airborne at Arnhem and the XXX Corps unsuccessfully trying to relieve them.
It was these same officers who brought Major General Urquhart’s famous, desperate message from the besieged forces: “… unless physical contact is made with us early 25 Sept…consider it unlikely we can hold out long enough …”
Phantom patrols were responsible for giving first news on many other events during the war. They were the first to report on the closing of the Falaise Gap, they provided some of the first information on concentration camps and they tracked the movement of German armor during the Battle of the Bulge.
In fact, when American and Soviet troops linked up for the first time at the Elbe River on April 25, 1945, a Phantom patrol attached to the U.S. 1st Army was sent to the planned location in advance, witnessing and reporting on the historic moment.
David Niven’s exploits in Phantom are little-known, as the actor remained tight-lipped about his wartime experience for the rest of his life. There an anegdote about him, saying that on one occasion, just before a fight that was likely to result in heavy casualties, he cheered up his men with a quip: “Look, you chaps only have to do this once. But I’ll have to do it all over again in Hollywood with Errol Flynn!”
He shunned the limelight given to celebrities who served and scorned journalists who covered the war with florid prose. He once said “Anyone who says a bullet sings past, hums past, flies, pings, or whines past, has never heard one – they go crack!”
He once explained the reason behind his silence and humility: “I will, however, tell you just one thing about the war, my first story and my last. I was asked by some American friends to search out the grave of their son near Bastogne. I found it where they told me I would, but it was among 27,000 others, and I told myself that here, Niven, were 27,000 reasons why you should keep your mouth shut after the war.”
Not quite sure what they mean here?
That’s udderly ridiculous !! Get over it !! it’s nature,mind your own business and let the mom feed her kid
Currently staying with London son in Shepherds Bush, W12.
It’s a mixed high density area of terraced houses; huge wealth through to public housing. Multiculti with Beirut and Khartoum characteristics.
It’s also in the deeply hated ULEZ: where if you move your ICE vehicle on any given 24-hour period, a camera will snap you and send you a £10 bill.
So tough shit if you are minimum wage and need your car to work, because it’s a non-deductible 12.5% scalping off your annual basic.
The result is a growing rash of new and secondhand EV’s – and a corresponding rash of street-charging issues, because other than the multi-ten million detached houses, everyone parks on the street.
There seem to be three kerbside charging options:
High-speed charging stations with a reserved parking space on the street. You book the space with an app, get an hour, and then move your car. If you get there for your hour and the spot is occupied (by tardy previous user or casual motorist), you click on the app and a truck arrives and takes the offending car away (recoverable after paying a hefty release fee).
Lamppost charging points. A plug in the occasional lamppost, with a QR code to power up for an unreserved, untimed trickle charge. Six along both sides of the whole quarter mile street – people spend their evenings shifting cars, and peering out waiting for a nearby park to become available.
Extension cords from houses. Some at garrotting height, some slung off trees and road signs, some just trailing along the footpath. Turd world stuff.
The fear, loathing, and friction this causes is intolerable to ICE and EV users alike. Violence, vandalism and theft is common – seemingly continuous.
It is shit city.
It is also Shitweasel Bowen’s vision for Australia.
(reposted, sorry)
Firstly, neither Patarames nor I are saying all the missiles are deadly accurate. Some are just more accurate than others. Secondly, if nukes are involved you don’t need deadly accuracy, you just need ball park accuracy – which they already have – because a nuke is an area weapon. Thirdly, all the Iranians are attempting to demonstrate is a capability in order to restrain/ moderate the Israelis: I can do this is pushed, check yourself. Fourthly, there is the converse view to the fear of the Israelis, and that is the fear of the Iranians; that the Israelis either on their own or with the US is hellbent on regime change/ countervalue strikes on Iran. What does someone in Tehran surmise from op-eds in the WSJ and the like, that are calling for strikes against its oil / nuclear facilities for example? Apart from, we either need to cut a deal with the US or we need to get nukes to restrain them. Problem is, given the treatment of negotiators/ ceasefire talks/ etc. over the last year or more they are going to be very wary of any deals.
The redlines were crossed by others. The frustration with Putin by Russian supporters is that he nominates a redline, the US/Ukrainians cross it, and then he cops it on the chin most times and establishes a new redline. How do you not know this?