The Arab League

There is talk about the Arab League imploring the UN to enforce a No fly zone over Libya. As far as I’m concerned all I can see is, one member of the Arab league, has offered four aircraft. I see Arab duplicity at work here. If all goes well then they can boast that they had a hand in liberating Libya. If it all goes horribly wrong then they can blame it all on the Evil western powers.

I’m not sure why we needed to get involved in the first place.

Saudi Arabia:

For Middle Eastern standards the armed forces of Saudi Arabia are relatively small. Its strength however is derived from advanced technology and not from numerical superiority. This is why the armed forces are under a continuing modernization program. The backbone of the fighter force is formed by 134 Tornados from which a batch of 48 Tornado IDS was ordered in 1993 under the al-Yamamah II program and 72 F-15S aircraft delivered from the mid-90s that operate besides the 41 F-15C/D aircraft delivered in the early 90s. Aircraft training is executed on the Pilatus PC-9, BAe Hawk, Boeing F-15D Eagle and the Northrop F-5F Tiger II. Like in many other countries the C-130 is the mainstay of the Transport fleet and the Hercules is assisted by CASA CN-235s. Reconnaissance is performed by 17sq with their RF-5E and the Boeing E-3A is the Airborne Early Warning platform operated by 18sq.

UAE:

The fighter fleet of the Western Air Command of Abu Dhabi can be found on Al Dhafra Air Force Base, just east of the capital of Abu Dhabi. The remaining 34 Mirage 2000s are stationed here as well as the AH-64A Apache helicopters. The transport core is formed by Lockheed Hercules and Indonesian (IPTN/IAe) built CN-235 aircraft, all flying from Bateen Air Force Base. The UAE Air Force will be reinforced soon now the approval of the US congress enables the Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company to deliver eighty new Block 60 F-16s that are officially designated F-16E/F. These Fighting Falcons are scheduled for delivery from 2004 through 2007. The UAE has an outstanding order for 30 Mirage 2000-9 aircraft, a customized version of the 2000-5 with additional air to ground capabilities. First deliveries have taken place in 2003. The United Arab Emirates Air Force & Air Defence also planned to upgrade its current fleet of 33 Mirage 2000s to the -9 standard and the first retrofitted Mirage 2000s are already active. Other recent development is the request for US Congress approval for delivery of two E-2C Hawkeye 2000 AEW platforms.

Egypt:

Currently the EAF has over 438 combat aircraft and 155 armed helicopters. The backbone of the Egyptian Air Force are 220 F-16 fighters. The Egyptian Air Force is the 4th largest operator of F-16's in the world, after the United States, Israel, and Turkey.

In other words the west is yet again going to be demonised for something the Arab world are incapable of doing. The trouble is we have a political class that seems that it must be seen do be doing something. 

Well now that the West has done the difficult bit, lets hand it over to the Arab League.

Just saying like. Maybe I’m just stupid.

SeaBay

Fancy a ship, one lady owner (HM The Queen), never raced or rallied, & only five years old. Complete with dynamic positioning. Comes with a full service history.

OIRO of £63M

RFA Largs Bay pictured here in her docked down condition. This allows landing craft to drive into her dock. (Helicopter not included)

Iconic “Health and safety “, get stuffed.

Just a couple of pics taken during the building of the Empire State Building.

The days when men were men.

Incidentally only five men died on the building project. One of which died from being run down

Hyper Injunctions

Anna Raccoon has an extremely important post on a debate which took place last Thursday in Westminster Hall, to which Charonqc links in his post on the same subject, the subject of which was people who have lost their liberty in the UK behind closed doors. (Do please read both posts and also the links contained therein).

We are so screwed.

Well we are if you believe in this article:

We've built a flying saucer, boasts Iran (even if it does look like it belongs in a 1950s B-movie)

The hardline Fars news agency illustrated its story with a photo of a flying saucer, akin to one appearing in a 1950s Hollywood B-movie, hovering over an unidentified wooded landscape.

The reports gave no indication of the spaceship’s size. But they indicated it was small by claiming, somewhat bizarrely, that it can also fly indoors.

Of course 4 years ago they tried to tell us that they had stealth technology. However probably not.

American naval forces in the Persian Gulf have yet to come across a 'super-modern' radar-evading flying boat Iran claimed to have tested four years ago.

Here’s a pic if you don’t want to be bothered to follow the link. I wouldn’t.

It hurts

Blogging maybe light. I’ve just come back from some major dentistry and the painkillers are wearing off.

Those MSM Ghouls

It doesn’t matter what TV programme you watch. or which paper you read, all you see is an overwhelming desire by the MSM for an apocalyptic disaster at the Fukushima nuclear plant.

Today the news was filled with comments like “A last ditch attempt” and “failed attempts at cooling”.

I’m sorry MSM, but couldn’t you for once support the unsung heroes that are trying to get the overheating cores and spent fuel rod pools from being a hazard.

These reactor workers, fireman, and the military are laying their lives on the line by the hour. And do stop wheeling out your, so called experts, to pedal your green anti nuclear ideology.

The reason that things are not going so well is the lack of electrical power to supply the pumps and allow for a sufficient quantity of coolant to reach the central cores.

FFS they’ve just suffered an horrendous earthquake and a tsunami to boot. It takes time.

As an engineer I would like to point out the following:

1. If they are going to use the backup generators, they will need to remove the water from the cylinders, change the oil, drain the water from the fuel tanks, and much, much more.

2. If the power cables are down, they are going to have to run new ones. These will have to be transported to the area. If they’re 440v, just imagine the size and length that needs to be transported to the area.

3. The pumps themselves will be powered by electric motors that will most likely have been immersed in salt water. They will have to be rinsed with fresh water and then dried till they have a resistance of at least one megohm. Difficult to do, without electric heating lamps.

The MSM and others complain that they are not receiving enough information. I would suspect, that those at the coal face are somewhat too busy to indulge in political spin. They need to be left alone to try and minimise the risk.

I lost count of the number of times in my career as an Engineer in the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, when we had a loss of all systems, and  on reaching the control room and finding the bridge talk back buzzing, the inane comment from the bridge  was “what’s  wrong and when will power be resumed?”

FFS did I have a crystal ball in my pocket, or a direct line to some deity. I’m afraid some profanity may have been uttered.

Please MSM. Leave the heroes of the hour to sort it out and stop speculate on something you seem to know nothing about.

Bathing the cat. Be afraid, very afraid

See my last post.

I.
Know that although the cat has the advantage of quickness and lack of concern for human life, you have the advantage of strength. Capitalize on that advantage by selecting the battlefield. Don't try to bathe him in an open area where he can force you to chase him. Pick a very small bathroom. If your bathroom is more than four feet square, I recommend that you get in the bath with the cat and close the sliding -glass doors as if you were about to take a shower. (A simple shower curtain will not do. A berserk cat can shred a three-ply rubber shower curtain quicker than a politician can shift positions.)

II.
Know that a cat has claws and will not hesitate to remove all the skin from your body. Your advantage here is that you are smart and know how to dress to protect yourself. I recommend canvas overalls tucked into high-top construction boots, a pair of steel-mesh gloves, an army helmet, a hockey face-mask, and a long-sleeved flak jacket.

III.
Use the element of surprise. Pick up your cat nonchalantly, as if to simply carry him to his supper dish. (Cats will not usually notice your strange attire. They have little or no interest in fashion as a rule.)

IV.
. Once you are inside the bathroom, speed is essential to survival. In a single liquid motion, shut the bathroom door, step into the bath enclosure, slide the glass door shut, dip the cat in the water and squirt him with shampoo. You have begun one of the wildest 45 seconds of your life.

V.
Cats have no handles. Add the fact that he now has soapy fur, and the problem is radically compounded. Do not expect to hold on to him for more than two or three seconds at a time. When you have him, however, you must remember to give him another squirt of shampoo and rub like crazy. He'll then spring free and fall back into the water, thereby rinsing himself off. (The national record for cats is three latherings, so don't expect too much.)

IV.
Next, the cat must be dried. Novice cat bathers always assume this part will be the most difficult, for humans generally are worn out at this point and the cat is just getting really determined. In fact, the drying is simple compared with what you have just been through. That's because by now the cat is semi-permanently affixed to your right leg. You simply pop the drain plug with your foot, reach for your towel and wait. (Occasionally, however, the cat will end up clinging to the top of your army helmet. If this happens, the best thing you can do is to shake him loose and to encourage him toward your leg.) After all the water is drained from the bath, it is a simple matter to just reach down and dry the cat. In a few days the cat will relax enough to be removed from your leg. He will usually have nothing to say for about three weeks and will spend a lot of time sitting with his back to you. He might even become psychoceramic and develop the fixed stare of a plaster figurine. You will be tempted to assume he is angry. This isn't usually the case. As a rule he is simply plotting ways to get through your defences and injure you for life the next time you decide to give him a bath. But at least now he smells a lot better

*No cats were harmed in the writing of this article. Just the owners*

The Cat wash

Don’t try this unless you are very brave.

'
But You Said You Loved Me!'


'You will pay, as God is my witness, you will pay.'

'
Holy Crap, you call this water warm???'

'
I don't think I like you anymore.'


'
You Lied !!!!!!'




'
E.T. Phone home......quick!'





'No, I'm not your Good Little Kitty anymore.'




'
Traction....I'm losing Traction!'




'
I want my Mommmmmmyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!'





'No, no, no, no.....NOOOO!!!!'

Ethical fuel

Don’t make me larf.

A single full tank of bio-ethanol uses up as much grain as an adult can eat in a whole year. In order to cover the German requirement for biofuel, an arable area of around one million hectares would be needed (Ed: That’s 3,861 square miles if you are British like me). That is four times the size of the south-western German state of Saarland, which would need to be fertilized, treated with pesticides and intensively farmed.

And of course we have no say in the matter. And of course another government quango sprang into life in order to bring this into being.

THE RENEWABLE TRANSPORT FUEL OBLIGATIONS ORDER 2007

The Order imposes an obligation on fuel suppliers to ensure that, by 2010, renewable fuels make up 5% of their UK road fuel sales.

And why are we doing it? You’ve guessed.

The EU has set a target that by 2020 at least 10 per cent of transport fuel should come from biofuels.

Can we leave yet?