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Springy Spring storms.

Reminds me of that year the park opposite us gained a trampoline after a windstorm, only to lose it to another storm that same day.

Easy come, easy go and all that.

You all right there?

I’d personally prefer they instead announce massive investment in defence industry capability, starting pdq.

NATO has acknowledged it wouldn’t have enough shells to fight Russia or to fight China in a grinding frontal conflict like Russia-Ukraine, which is plenty enough reason to restock quickly. That’s assuming there’s no need to give millions of shells to other countries being invaded by a NATO adversary (I.e., Moldova after Ukraine, a near certainty bless ‘em; or Israel fighting Iran and friends; or Taiwan, if China starts massing invasion forces in Fujian).

Like NATO’s materiel reinforcements to Ukraine, NATO’s own 2025 and 2028 target dates for new stockpiles are already running the risk of being too little, too late. We do have F35s, MANPADs and HIMARs though.

It’s a repeat of appeasement. NATO, an alliance built to counter the threat from Soviet Russia, chickened out when it came to actually risking a fight with Russia. They can dress up the truth a hundred ways, saying it was prudent de-escalation or that maybe the alliance did expand too quickly or that Ukraine isn’t worth the risk of a direct conflict, but the fact remains that NATO leaders were/are afraid of Putin, just like XX century leaders were afraid of Hitler.

And the worst irony is that, if/when Ukraine folds, Russia will present a much greater threat than before: an emboldened tyrannical regime riding a populist wave, with the largest war-hardened force in the world (with recent experience fighting against NATO kit and tactics), with newly acquired natural resources (incl. the 2nd longest freshwater coastline in the world), new de facto borders with NATO (and several pro-Russian EU and Balkan countries that could conceivably legally allow Russian troops into their territory), new coastline on the Black Sea (I.e., more warm water ports), and vastly strengthened ties with the world’s factory (China).

Now wait for trump to get reelected and watch the peaceful world order fall apart.

Have these people no shame?

No; if they do, the things they feel shame about don’t align with what normal people feel. They’re the adult versions of actively shitty kids whose environment never made them change, and now they have a lifetime of experience of how to be shitty without lasting consequences.

forumengers
israeli secret services

There’s a non-zero chance that those Venn circles overlap.

The lack of attention on the bombing of an embassy in Damascus is surprising. It shouldn’t matter that it belongs to Iran, diplomatic property and personnel should be inviolable, or it weakens the foundations of the international legal framework that took generations to build. Despite that, there’s a deafening silence.

(If Hamas soldiers were killed, good riddance, but targeting terrorists shouldn’t be a blank cheque to do whatever one wants)

Why post about that here? One possible positive thing to come out of heightened tension in Iran is that they might keep more of the supply of drones etc they’re sending to Russia for use in Ukraine.

US officials now telling Reuters, off the record, that China is providing Russia with machinery and technology used in expanding their defense industry to a size not seen since the Cold War. And at a faster pace than what was expected.

Silver lining. Enjoy!

https://metro.co.uk/2024/04/11/al-ittihad-striker-abderrazak-hamdallah-whipped-supporter-saudi-super-cup-final-20633239/

In wtf news that should not surprise anyone’s who’s paying attention to that country, a football fan in Saudi whips a player, with an actual whip, during a match for squirting water at/on him.

I was informed by a trustworthy source that British officers commanding troops from that part of the world 100 years ago were murdered by their men at higher rates than elsewhere because physical punishment, especially something like a slap, was seen by the locals as such an affront to a man’s manhood that only death could repay the indignity. Of course, enlisted men were continually executed for killing their superiors, without the Brits understanding why. Presumably a foreigner striking a local elite would have fared worse.

All that to say that the footballer should count himself lucky he hasn’t been literally flayed.

Unless the driver was a child too young to know better, they park like a cunt.

Do grandfather clocks belong in this thread?

Thanks Tester and Phil. We’ve gone with a Spa fork with the original measurements.

MSW is clean, Silca is clean-ish (light grey because of molybdenum or some additive).

One would hope that this would get people in the UK who zealously believe the US will be there for them if SHTF to snap out of their delusion.

No permanent friends or enemies, after all.

How much can one deviate from a manufacturer’s OEM fork spec on an affordable titanium frame?

A customer needs a new fork for their tempest Ti gravel bike. PlanetX still sells bikes and frames, but doesn’t seem to stock the fork anymore (“carbon gravel…”; possibly related to last year’s bike accident lawsuit?). The specs for the full build say the fork has a 395mm AtC and a 45mm rake. Lauf have a nice looking fork that’s 408mm AtC and 45mm rake. Is that too risky to install?

Pissed me off too. Had to add a trill note ‘…OFF to-the Neville Neville Stand’, which is just unnecessary ornamentation.

Will take more pics today, bike is in MiL’s garage.

(Pics now coming Friday)

Good catch, will take new pic today but I’m pretty sure it’s currently in the right orientation.

(Pics now coming Friday)

Where is it located?

Perhaps there's money to be made by sabotaging the planes and shorting the stock.

In a not too distant strategy, current evidence points to a policy of managerial disregard for the actual planes, aiming solely at boosting production and stock price.

The first scenario sounds mad, and the second scenario sound like business as usual these days, but both have the same insane potential consequences.

Dah, thank you, have amended.

FBI is investigating. Industrial sabotage? Criminal negligence?

The US military has such a big investment reliant on Boeing that it’s hard to believe the company will falter. That said, if what the deceased whistleblower claimed is true, more and more planes will have worse and worse issues as they wear and tear. Jeebus forbid an accident should happen, but if one does the company would have public opinion massively against them from the start.

Selling my Goku getaround bike. Paint is scratched up but tubing is in perfect condition. No dents or deep scrapes/scratches, no falls or crashes. Mechanic-owned from new, used but never abused.

Currently has Campag Khamsins installed, running super smooth with tons of brake surface left. Columbus Carve fork (shown with a bit of tape residue in pic but I will clean off). Set up with grip shifter and a 7sp Shimano cassette in back, and a Shimano crankset. Can convert back to 1sp or to fixed using the original wheel(s) it came with (for free). Black ODI grips are in good condition. Tyres have a tyre liner and tubes have muck off tube sealant, and I can swap them out if you’d like. Nylon pedals are brand new. Brakes have cartridges for easy replacement.

You can keep the Pitloks for £25, which is much cheaper than RRP (not selling these separately from bike). Kickstand not included. Registered on bikeregister.

Collected near SE24, possibly further afield. Domestic shipping at cost with no charge for retailer-level packaging and labour.

Not the clearest pic of the bike so I’ll get an updated one. I’ll take off the rear mudguard (and slight glue residue I’m seeing in the pic on the fork), which is purposely ugly as a security feature.