Bokdrol

We sit on other sides of the political fence and seldom if ever agree but in this instance, I do agree - other than the rule thing which I guess may be tongue in cheek. As I think I said earlier in this thread, the country now needs a change of ruling party. Enough is enough. Hopefully Labour will have learned from the dismal Tory performances of late and will make a decent fist of it. It'll be interesting to see how long it takes for the press and sm experts to revert to type.

Me Tory, you Labour - we'll never agree. Leave it at that. We'll see how new labour's champagne socialists fare after they get in. They can't do any worse, or can they...

Well, it's easy to say 'because of policy' blah blah and to not credit the leader, but the buck stops with the PM as Truss will find out sooner rather than later. The stuffed shirts on the benches got rid of him (and I've no doubt many are now regretting it) due to personal dislike of him, along with press and social media pressure to which they cravenly bowed. Despite being a Europhile with strong personal European connections, he took us through Brexit, something that Cameron was too chickenshit to do, DC having himself opened up Pandora's box. Bojo also led us through the greatest pandemic since 1919 - but of course those with 20/20 hindsight will say, not very well. People look at his dishevelled buffoon-like persona and fail to see a razor-sharp brain and super intellect. Imho, one of our great leaders - someone who could converse with world leaders, not only on the same level, but often in their own languages. People remember Churchill, Thatcher (even Julius Caesar who got it in the back but remains the one Roman Emperor we all recall) and in time they'll remember Boris Johnson as a once great leader too. To me one of the best endorsements of Bojo as a leader was Putin's joy at his fall, but Zelensky's dismay. Says it all...

(1) Time will tell/is already telling. It's highly unlikely this current sh*tstorm would have occurred under Boris. And now many would have him back (2) Well, he saw off Khrushchev and his Cuban missiles for a start.

Churchill, Thatcher and now Bojo, the latter if you concentrate on the leadership aspect. Naturally, supporters of Comrade Corbyn will disagree. Don't forget, the man who is often revered as the greatest of all POTUS', JFK, was a human being who had his peccadillos and would have struggled with today's sm and forensic press generation where even someone with one brain cell and a cellphone or a keyboard is an expert with a 'valid' pov.

We have a history of shooting ourselves in the foot, and head, in the UK. We get rid of world class leaders and replace them with dross, and then live to regret it. A lot of what we believe to be 'accurate' is simply drivel, sorry I mean driven, by the press and by social media experts. For sure, we're going to do it again - it's nothing new. As I type, our C of the E is coming back to the UK to actually blow his own head off. And for the record, (and for Stumpy who loves to fire a few at me lol) I'm one of those 'dumb Brits' who voted for Brexit but am still dumb and thick skinned enough to vote for it again and again - a bit like Momma's Squeeze Box.

Just like that CI or instructor who is always ticking off/grounding jumpers for in air/under canopy infringements, however minor, and who we in fact need on the DZ to keep us on our toes, we might also need the Nanny State to keep us safe/r. Personal opinion only, of course.

Got my Cypres 2 set at 1050 (shows 3 on the display next to the 0). Extra 300' might just help one day....

I take it you are well aware of the meaning, here in the UK at least, of the word 'bonking'? If you are, great double entendre! It would certainly keep Liz off the PM's 'hot seat' for a while.

Just waiting for the Maggie Thatcher blow-up doll to hit the shelves in Soho and then my life will be complete.

I stand corrected then although I guess the deputy would be boss man/woman until the ballots were in. The Tory deputy stood in for Bojo when he had covid, as I recall. For the record, I wouldn't wish ill on any politician, not even Comrade Corbyn or the Krankie woman.

As a committed Tory voter I have to say, though through gritted teeth, that we DO need a change of Government. Much as I dislike Starmer and his deputy, I doubt that they could sell us down the river much further than we already are. The only problem could be -Starmer checks out unexpectedly while serving PM and we are left with the deputy in charge.....check out an interview she did with Andrew Neil - she makes Truss look like a seasoned interviewee pro.

Not to me, but then I only live and vote here....and I wouldn't describe Truss as a right wing, neo-fascist, anti-immigration, isolationist, Putin supporter in any shape of form. I'd say, more than Truss looking up to her, it's vice versa and there's not much Truss can do about that, is there? She is blond, though, I'll give you that.

Do expand on this....

LOL. Texans need to check out Zimbabwe where voter intimidation is rife but nobody in the rest of the world seems to give a flying F. They don't do too much well in good old Zim these days but they certainly know how to get the voting right. Yes, I know, admin.....this should be in Joke of the Day forum.

Given that the BPA /BS don't even allow 100% fit adults over the age of 55 to do AFF in the UK, I would have thought that your chances of completing an AFF1 jump in the UK are pretty slim. You can but ask. I know that disabled ex servicemen (BLESMA) do have some dispensation but whether or not that extends to sight issues, I can't say. As the previous poster said, you might have better luck in Spain (or one of the other EU countries) where the rules may not be less rigorous but are, on occasion, possibly less rigorously enforced. Good luck with your quest.

Let's see what comes out in the wash, if it ever does - until then, thanks for your rational, intelligent observations and comments (and I'm not being sarcastic, either). Over - and Out.

Fair comment - but for me it smacks of a witch-hunt and, I'm afraid that in stress situations, sh*t does happen. This isn't My Lai (everyone in town) - far from it. Furthermore we'll never get the actual testimony of the SF forces involved, only the bits the BBC has conveniently edited from sitreps.

It's always a bit sad when a clickbait post like this has no takers and drops down the list into oblivion. So I'll correct that. Of course, it's the BBC who have done the investigative 'journalism' (in this case a euphemism for stabbing our own military in the back, which the media do well in the UK). This is the same BBC who yesterday posted a picture of Raheem Sterling in a report on a footballer accused of a sex offence, only it wasn't Raheem who was accused.....so they obviously do their job so well....... One of the reasons, I suspect, for no bait takers might just be that a large percentage of the members on this site are American. Many are ex military or have familial connections to the military. The Americans that I know hold their military and veterans in high esteem and maybe they feel some affinity for their cousins across the pond. After all, it's a war situation the BBC are 'reporting' on and as some will know, in war sh*t sometimes happens, and it's not one way traffic either. We in the UK might do well to learn to try and respect our military, especially Special Forces. We might just need them one day.

We're all entitled to our own views and opinions - yes, even you!

Strange how the politicians/leaders we remember most for their greatness are the ones who were stabbed, literally or figuratively, in the back by their compatriots. Julius Caesar, Churchill, Thatcher...while many of the rest have been consigned to history's dustbin. Unfortunately for the UK, what's going to follow on is far worse than BoJo. The Tories are weak and lily livered. The only other reasonable opposition are run by a millionaire Knight of the Realm (not exactly Labour then) and his harpy minge flashing deputy - and they have only just got rid of a dangerous anti-semitic marxist terrorist sympathiser leader. Things ain't looking up here lol. This is our 'et tu Brute' moment.

Try me. I've studied a lot of partial differential equations and specialised in nonlinear numerical methods, so I think I can handle a bit of complexity*. If you can just kindly provide an explanation from your shining intellect I'll try to translate it for the laypeople here. (*not as credentialled as the professor here, only a master's degree but I do like technical stuff)

You're right of course - I just can't help myself, even to the extent of revealing some personal stuff which I promised myself I wouldn't do, especially as I thought that Brains was a dipstick because he had to tell us how clever and qualified he was, which normally means the guy is thicker than p-s. This is definitely the last of my comments - you guys have ground me down for the 'win'. Enjoy your week.

Stumpy - let me guess.... 'challenged'? Don't vent your angst at me kiwi

You don't give up, do you? Believe me, if your family fled persecution, it's passed down the line so you DO know about it. And try to stop bringing black and brown into the conversation - you'll be throwing the R word at me next despite the fact that my father in law was Jewish and my wife's maternal ancestors were classified as people of colour in good old apartheid South Africa. Really now, no more comments from me despite how hard you might wind my clock. Enjoy your week.