and the ship will be conventionally powered.

Isn't Britain one of those Climate Change governments, that want to do away with fossil fuels...

Find it interesting they are going gung ho on military equipment that guzzles the stuff....

By Ryan Opel (Ryan) on Thursday, October 10, 2024 - 08:16 pm: Edit

This ship is likely being built for South Korea.

Britian doesn't need a 3rd carrier.

By MarkSHoyle (Bolo) on Thursday, October 10, 2024 - 09:19 pm: Edit

Considering S Korea's ship building ability,
think, maybe the UK will design and SK will build...
No matter which navy it's assigned...
Not like Britain has had much luck with there carriers lately....

By Carl-Magnus Carlsson (Hardcore) on Friday, October 11, 2024 - 04:16 am: Edit

France will deliver Mirage 2000 jets to Ukraine next year, the "The War Zone" reports. Exakt variant and upgrades are unknown.

By Steve Stewart (Stevestewart) on Friday, October 11, 2024 - 08:29 am: Edit

We've had plenty of luck with our carriers - sadly, it's been mostly bad luck!

By Mike Grafton (Mike_Grafton) on Friday, October 11, 2024 - 09:12 am: Edit

I like the Japanese "Helicopter Destroyers" which are just CVLs.

By Jeff Wile (Jswile) on Friday, October 11, 2024 - 10:42 am: Edit

The reports about the QE class carriers have generally been favorable, the main issues seem to be the propellers shafts.

Could be many different issues, whatever the issues are, it seems that they tend to end with a catastrophic failure of the connection between sections of the shafts. (For those who may not know, large ships propeller shafts are far too long to cast as a single piece of metal. They are built in sections and bolted together to form the shaft.)

I haven’t seen a published report of the incidents yet, so its a matter of conjecture.

It might even be related to the problems reported by the French Carrier ten or 12 years ago. Nuclear powered, but the plant couldn’t generate enough steam to operate steam catapults and main ships propulsion at the same time. The first fix was to redesign a replacement set of propellers with a more aggressive angle to increase thrust. The result of which was three of the four propellors sheared off all of the blades of the propellers the first time they took the carrier to see for shakedown cruise. (Not a good look to see the Flagship of the French navy being towed back to harbor.)

In any event, the QE class ships desperately need to be corrected.

By Jessica Orsini (Jessica_Orsini) on Friday, October 11, 2024 - 11:27 am: Edit

A colleague of mine wrote up a dandy synopsis of the state of things vis-a-vis current U.S. policy in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, as follows:

The Biden administration is looking at a situation where an anti-American coalition is strengthening and moving against U.S. interests around the globe. The core of this coalition is Russia and Iran, along with their various proxies throughout the world. Russia has a geopolitical interest in controlling its neighboring states up to the borders of the former Russian Empire, if not beyond, and maintains proxy groups in Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, and Armenia, etc., in pursuit of this aim. Iran has a geopolitical interest in controlling its neighboring states up to the borders of the former Persian empire, if not beyond, and maintains proxy groups in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, etc. in pursuit of this aim. These interests are naturally opposed by other states in Europe and the Middle East, as well as by the U.S., which has a geopolitical interest in a friendly (or at least neutral and politically fractured) Europe and Middle East. In addition to geopolitical concerns, the current governments of Russia and Iran have strong ideological incentives to work together and oppose the U.S. Vladimir Putin came of age during the Cold War and sees the U.S. and NATO as key ideological opponents, and the Ayatollah-lead Iranian regime arose from the ashes of a U.S.-backed secular monarchy and publicly opposes the continued existence of the U.S. and Israel on religious and ideological grounds.

Over the past two decades, Russia and Iran have strengthened significantly and seen a great deal of geopolitical success. Both countries are heavily dependent on hydrocarbon revenues, and both have been able to bring in massive amounts of capital by selling hydrocarbons to Europe, India and China. Russia has used its capital to defeat the Chechen separatist movement and install a puppet government in Chechnya, invade Georgia to install puppet governments in the Abkhazia and South Ossetia regions, prop up the dictatorship of Aleksandr Lukashenko in Belarus, invade Moldova to weaken the pro-EU government and prop up a breakaway government in the Transnistria region, prop up the dictatorship of Bashar al-Assad in Syria after the Arab Spring protests, invade Ukraine to seize and annex Crimea and the eastern Donbas region, and most recently invade Ukraine in an attempt to entirely destroy the state. Russia has also sold or given missile and nuclear technology to Iran and created a robust digital espionage and propaganda machine to drive political conflict and discord in the West. Iran has used its capital to fund allied militias in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen, destabilizing these countries and weakening the influence of Iran's rivals in Saudi Arabia, Israel, and the U.S. They have also sought to create militias to destabilize Jordan, but have so far not succeeded. Iran has also sold or given drone technology to Russia for its war in Ukraine as well as various ammunition and other support. On top of this, the U.S. failure and withdrawal from Afghanistan has removed a major U.S. threat from Iran's east.

Knowing all of this, and with decades of foreign policy experience under their collective belts, the Biden administration has pursued a strategy of opposing the Russia-Iran coalition wherever possible, swallowing any domestic political concerns, with some impressive results. The war in Ukraine has ground to a stalemate and consumed a massive amount of Russian resources. Sweden and Finland, two countries historically neutral since the 19th century, have joined NATO and moved entirely into the U.S. orbit. Azerbaijan, a geopolitical rival of both Iran and Russia, has won their three-decade conflict with neighboring Russian ally Armenia (with Israeli military aid). The Biden administration reconciled with Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia (and a morally concerning leader to say the least), and as a result the price of oil has dropped (which squeezes the finances of Russia and Iran) and Saudi Arabia has moved closer to a formal recognition of Israel. In response to the latter, Hamas launched its massacre against Israeli civilians last October in an attempt to change the narrative and halt Israeli-Saudi normalization. In this they have so far succeeded, but the other results have been devastating for Iran's proxy groups. With aid from the Biden administration, Israel has eliminated Hamas as a military force and reduced the organization to a low-level insurgency in Gaza. They have also dramatically reduced the combat effectiveness of the much larger Hezbollah organization in Lebanon and eliminated the vast majority of their leadership. This significantly tips the balance of power in the region against Iran and Russia.

The Biden administration has done all of this in spite of strong domestic opposition to Ukraine from the U.S. right (which is not terribly challenging for a Democratic administration to resist), and to Israel from the U.S. left (which is much more challenging). There have been several studies suggesting that much of the right-wing anti-Ukraine propaganda as well as the left-wing anti-Israel propaganda can be traced back to the same sources associated with the Russian government and their attempt to generate political discord in the West. So far the U.S. has resisted this discord and acted firmly against the Russia-Iran coalition wherever possible. We shall see if that continues!

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Friday, October 11, 2024 - 01:35 pm: Edit

That would be the same Biden Administration that gave planeloads of cash to Iran and dropped the sanctions on Iran selling oil to China? Without that cash, the current Middle East crisis would not have happened.

By Jean Sexton Beddow (Jsexton) on Friday, October 11, 2024 - 03:07 pm: Edit

Gator warning for Jessica and SVC!!!

Jean
WebMom

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Monday, October 14, 2024 - 10:01 am: Edit

Third Assassination attempt?
Sheriff deputies in California arrested a man, Vem Miller (?), who tried to enter a Trump rally with a fake VIP invitation with his car. The deputies were suspicious because his car was full of trash and clutter and the license plate looked fake. A search found a loaded pistol and a loaded shotgun, as well as passports and driver’s licenses in multiple names. He was arrested before Trump entered the venue. He may have been part of a “sovereign citizens” group. It is of course not impossible that he was just there for the rally, not to shoot Trump. He was held on gun charges then released on bail. The fact that the FBI did not arrest him on federal charges could mean they didn’t think this was an assassination attempt or that they did not want to believe that.

By Jeff Anderson (Jga) on Monday, October 14, 2024 - 11:03 am: Edit

According to reports I've heard, arrested, booked, posted bail, and released.

IMO: that sounded like SOMEone didn't take the idea of him being a potential Presidential assassin very serious.

(HOWEVER, given a propensity lately for many sources of public information to put out bad info, I must ask that this report be taken with a grain of salt. While yes, I did post it here, I am skeptical of its veracity at this time.)

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Tuesday, October 15, 2024 - 02:00 am: Edit

There is no doubt he was arrested, charged, and bailed. There is doubt he was really an intended assassin (see the question mark in the title of my post), but I'd rather arrest someone who isn't than wait to catch a real one when he pulls the trigger. Given the highly politicized government agencies, it is at least possible that the FBI didn't charge him because they didn't want to "help" the candidate in question. It is also possible that a grandstanding sheriff made more of this than is there.

By Mike Grafton (Mike_Grafton) on Tuesday, October 15, 2024 - 08:32 am: Edit

Current accounts say the man is a MAGA supporter and right leaning podcaster.

Maybe he always has guns in his car? Doesn't account for the fake plates or VIP pass...

"Who is Vem Miller? What we know about man arrested at Donald Trump rally..."

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Tuesday, October 15, 2024 - 11:48 am: Edit

To be fair, MAGA isn't a secret club with a vetting process; anyone can join (no matter how kooky) by purchasing a hat. There is no such thing as a membership list or even a qualification process. Nothing could stop Mike G or House Orsini from buying a hat if they wanted to appear like a Trump supporter.

As for right wing, no conservative claims those sovereign citizen nut cases as part of our crowd. When you get that far out, right and left don't really apply, but Vem isn't left by any means. Even so, I doubt an Sovereign Citizen would want to shoot Trump.

Mike is right about one thing: Lots of people carry guns in their cars, although it's not that common in California. For the record, I don't because cars are to easy to break into and I wouldn't consider a firearm secure. But then, SNL (an expert in such things) says Kamala keeps "a big Glock" in her glove compartment.

By Jeff Anderson (Jga) on Tuesday, October 15, 2024 - 03:33 pm: Edit

There have been cases where crazy people have turned violent towards their idols. Besides, with two recent attempts, I can imagine his personal security people not wanting to risk anything.

By Jason E. Schaff (Jschaff297061) on Tuesday, October 15, 2024 - 04:39 pm: Edit

If the guy really is a hard-core Trump fan, a fake VIP pass would make sense; wanting to be up close to his hero at an event.

By Jessica Orsini (Jessica_Orsini) on Tuesday, October 15, 2024 - 05:18 pm: Edit

House Orsini reserves the right to issue secret hats as deemed appropriate.

By Mike Curtis (Nashvillen) on Tuesday, October 15, 2024 - 06:06 pm: Edit

Jason, that sounds like a great movie.

By Jeff Wile (Jswile) on Tuesday, October 15, 2024 - 06:13 pm: Edit

Uhmmm, just, how, exactly do you propose to keep said “Secret Hats” secret?

I mean, assuming said secret hats are meant to be kept secret, wouldn’t the act of using the aforementioned head apparel, sort of void the warranty like, immediately?

Or were you going to segregate the secret hat wearers in such a way that prevents the secret identity of the aforementioned secret hats apparel identity is not revealed to the majority of the public not already in the club?

Wait, ok, now I am confused.

Is there a secret hand shake to go with the secret hats?

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Tuesday, October 15, 2024 - 10:56 pm: Edit

I think there is a secret dog whistle.

By Mike Grafton (Mike_Grafton) on Wednesday, October 16, 2024 - 08:23 am: Edit

That whole Vem Miller, assassin? thing is starting to sound more improbable. But apparently he has a long history of being a MAGA podcaster readily available.

Kind of like the "eating the pets" and "Joe isn't THAT old" claims.

I'd wear a Secret Orsini hat. As long as it isn't red.

By Jessica Orsini (Jessica_Orsini) on Wednesday, October 16, 2024 - 08:34 am: Edit

So, funny "secret hat" related thing. Steve Jackson Games used to (and heck, for all I know, might still) issue T-shirts to their recruitment folks ("Men in Black"). Said T-shirts were black, and had the Illuminati pyramid and "You Can't See Me" printed on them... in black. You could only see it if you looked very closely or if the light hit it just right.

By Jessica Orsini (Jessica_Orsini) on Wednesday, October 16, 2024 - 08:42 am: Edit

As for Vern Miller, he's very much a Sovereign Citizen type, right down to the homemade "passports" and "license plates" (something of a hallmark of the breed, as they do not believe they are subject to any state or federal regulations, holding rather that both state and federal governments are illegitimate; by and large, the highest office they recognize as valid is county sheriff).

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Wednesday, October 16, 2024 - 10:26 am: Edit

So the only thing we know for sure is that he is a kook.