In todays light hearted look at the (non-political) news

[Pirahna]

There's still WW1 munitions exploding in France and Belgium. There's also the Red Zones where it's too contaminated to access the land.

[Cousin Jack]

You know when they evacuate hundreds of people due to an old WWII bomb being found and you think, 'Is it really likely to go off after all these decades..?'

https://www.bbc.com/news/videos/cy430j48kjyo

Some explosives degrade over time and become less likely to go bang, some explosives get more sensitive.

[gremlin]

[
And they still work about the Richard Montgomery - TBF, who cares of the Isle of Sheppey is destroyed!

They say that if it goes bang it could cause over £500 million worth of improvements...

[David]

[
And they still work about the Richard Montgomery - TBF, who cares of the Isle of Sheppey is destroyed!

They say that if it goes bang it could cause over £500 million worth of improvements...

Last time i went past that in a boat, some locals were fishing over it.

[gremlin]

[
And they still work about the Richard Montgomery - TBF, who cares of the Isle of Sheppey is destroyed!

They say that if it goes bang it could cause over £500 million worth of improvements...

Last time i went past that in a boat, some locals were fishing over it.

They plan to remove the tops of the masts (very carefully, one presumes) as people like to go out and climb on it at low tide for a selfie and Insta views. Should it go bang whilst they are gooning about on it, they'll have considerably more views I reckon.

[gremlin]

Here's a riddle for you? How much does it cost to NOT build a tunnel?

Not very amusing answer: c. £800m

The looooong debated Lower Thames Crossing, which would join Kent to Essex (not sure who gets the shittiest end of that stick), has cost just shy of a yard of your money and mine, not to be built...

https://news.sky.com/story/thames-tunne ... l-13230526

And still the can is being kicked down the road.

[MrLongbeard]

LOL, I read that yesterday and had a good chuckle at the paper pushers pissing so much money up the wall with their paperwork that they could have built the Oslo tunnel many times over.

In this little corner of the country we were awarded a £4 million grant for flood defences, which are sorely needed, IIRC they've pissed 2 - 3 million up the wall on planning, surveys, consultations etc. and are now scrabbling about to raise funds as they can no longer afford the actual work

[Count Steer]

Here's a riddle for you? How much does it cost to NOT build a tunnel?

Not very amusing answer: c. £800m

The looooong debated Lower Thames Crossing, which would join Kent to Essex (not sure who gets the shittiest end of that stick), has cost just shy of a yard of your money and mine, not to be built...

https://news.sky.com/story/thames-tunne ... l-13230526

And still the can is being kicked down the road.

£800M?! Strewth. They could have not built 16 garden bridges across the Thames with that. You could probably not have built the Thames Estuary Airport with it and had change left over to not increase the size of the Thames Barrier too.

[gremlin]

Here's a riddle for you? How much does it cost to NOT build a tunnel?

Not very amusing answer: c. £800m

The looooong debated Lower Thames Crossing, which would join Kent to Essex (not sure who gets the shittiest end of that stick), has cost just shy of a yard of your money and mine, not to be built...

https://news.sky.com/story/thames-tunne ... l-13230526

And still the can is being kicked down the road.

£800M?! Strewth. They could have not built 16 garden bridges across the Thames with that. You could probably not have built the Thames Estuary Airport with it and had change left over to not increase the size of the Thames Barrier too.

Planning in this country does seem to be ripe for a shake up. Remember the debacle over Heathrow T5?

BAA formally announced its proposal for construction of Terminal 5 in May 1992, submitting a formal planning application on 17 February 1993.[4][5] A public inquiry into the proposals began on 16 May 1995 and lasted nearly four years, finally ending on 17 March 1999 after sitting for 525 days. The inquiry, based at the Renaissance Hotel Heathrow, was the longest planning inquiry ever held in the UK.[6] Finally, more than eight years after the initial planning application, Secretary of State for Transport Stephen Byers announced on 20 November 2001 the British government's decision to grant planning permission for the building of a fifth passenger terminal at Heathrow.

[Taipan]

If its anything to do with TBC (Thurrock Borough Council) then financial incompetence and general stupidity is to be expected. The proposed tunnel is in the wrong place. Its practically next door to the Thurruck crossing and will do nothing to ease congestion at peak times, more likely just increase it!

That stretch of the A13 if often gridlocked at peak times, so to relieve it the new crossing should have gone from Canvey Island which is fed by the relatively new 4 lane A130 and kept traffic off teh A13. There has been campaigns and demands for a wider route off of Canvey for as long as I can remember and this could have been addressed at the same time.

[gremlin]

There has been campaigns and demands for a wider route off of Canvey for as long as I can remember

Imagine if they built a link between Canvey and Sheppy....residents would go from 6 fingers on the left hand to having two heads.

Apparently it's Tilbury - Gravesend-ish.

https://nationalhighways.co.uk/our-road ... -crossing/

[Count Steer]

Here's a riddle for you? How much does it cost to NOT build a tunnel?

Not very amusing answer: c. £800m

The looooong debated Lower Thames Crossing, which would join Kent to Essex (not sure who gets the shittiest end of that stick), has cost just shy of a yard of your money and mine, not to be built...

https://news.sky.com/story/thames-tunne ... l-13230526

And still the can is being kicked down the road.

£800M?! Strewth. They could have not built 16 garden bridges across the Thames with that. You could probably not have built the Thames Estuary Airport with it and had change left over to not increase the size of the Thames Barrier too.

Planning in this country does seem to be ripe for a shake up. Remember the debacle over Heathrow T5?

BAA formally announced its proposal for construction of Terminal 5 in May 1992, submitting a formal planning application on 17 February 1993.[4][5] A public inquiry into the proposals began on 16 May 1995 and lasted nearly four years, finally ending on 17 March 1999 after sitting for 525 days. The inquiry, based at the Renaissance Hotel Heathrow, was the longest planning inquiry ever held in the UK.[6] Finally, more than eight years after the initial planning application, Secretary of State for Transport Stephen Byers announced on 20 November 2001 the British government's decision to grant planning permission for the building of a fifth passenger terminal at Heathrow.

In a shorter timescale than that they've planned and built a completely new international airport in Istanbul.

[Horse]

Not really light hearted ...

https://news.sky.com/story/british-adve ... e-13231900

The foot was found encased in a sock with the name "AC Irvine" embroidered on it by a climbing team on the North Face of the 8,849-metre mountain.

[Mussels]

Here's a riddle for you? How much does it cost to NOT build a tunnel?

Not very amusing answer: c. £800m

The looooong debated Lower Thames Crossing, which would join Kent to Essex (not sure who gets the shittiest end of that stick), has cost just shy of a yard of your money and mine, not to be built...

https://news.sky.com/story/thames-tunne ... l-13230526

And still the can is being kicked down the road.

Here's something else not so amusing, Labour love to milk a good Thames crossing. I hope they are going to be fair and tax all the bridges as well.
https://greenwichwire.co.uk/2024/07/10/ ... -revealed/

[Taipan]

Here's a riddle for you? How much does it cost to NOT build a tunnel?

Not very amusing answer: c. £800m

The looooong debated Lower Thames Crossing, which would join Kent to Essex (not sure who gets the shittiest end of that stick), has cost just shy of a yard of your money and mine, not to be built...

https://news.sky.com/story/thames-tunne ... l-13230526

And still the can is being kicked down the road.

Here's something else not so amusing, Labour love to milk a good Thames crossing. I hope they are going to be fair and tax all the bridges as well.
https://greenwichwire.co.uk/2024/07/10/ ... -revealed/

Tolls on all of them soon and you cant go past them to any of the free bridges without going into the congestion/ulez charge. Strategic or what! Pay per mile soon too...

[Mr. Dazzle]

SpaceX just successfully chopsticked their booster.

Which sounds made up, but isn't.

One of those things you'd never think was possible until you see it. If someone posted a video of it you'd say "Fake! That's reversed footage".

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cq8xpz598zjt

[Yorick]

Fuck me. Wouldn't have believed this if I hadn't seen it
.
https://www.bbc.com/news/videos/cly57d5jw7eo

[Count Steer]

SpaceX just successfully chopsticked their booster.

Which sounds made up, but isn't.

One of those things you'd never think was possible until you see it. If someone posted a video of it you'd say "Fake! That's reversed footage".

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cq8xpz598zjt

Well, I've seen it and I'm still not sure I believe it!

Bonkers!

[Mr. Dazzle]

Said to my parents (who just happened to be visiting htis weekend).

"They" worry about North Korea and Iran's weapons and missile programmes, meanwhile you've got a private company who've just demonstrated a highly reusable ICBM launched from a private pad without government assistance

Also note how they had a prepositioned floating camera buoy ready to film the splash down of the upper stage, so after a ~10,000 mile flight (of a vehicle which can carry over 100 tonnes don't forget) they managed to land within a few hundred metres of their 'target'.

Mental

[Horse]

Fuck me. Wouldn't have believed this if I hadn't seen it
.
https://www.bbc.com/news/videos/cly57d5jw7eo

Did you read Dazzles post immediately before yours?