The General Discussion Thread

[Publish Date updated to restore to front page]

Okay as an experiment here it is. Discuss your favourite generals here!

Well perhaps… Really this is simply the place to post news-items, fun-items or whatever takes your fancy. In short just post what you want here.

It’s just another wee experiment – comments welcome.

Squonk.

[Image: General Sir Anthony Cecil Hogmanay Melchett (Stephen Fry)]

17,285 thoughts on “The General Discussion Thread

  1. Sure am still building a conspiracy theory.

    Just have gotten on to why those Spanish investigators were apparently killed aka the motive.

    Now have to find out if Netanyahu and his Mossad has any influence in NATO, especially its operations in France.

  2. You do that, Trowbridge – go right ahead. And then what? Share it with another bunch of bobble-heads who’ll say, “Yup, yup, yup – makes sense – yup, yup”, without asking awkward questions, or point out the ludicrous nonsense of your entire “case”?

    Awful lot of bootstrapping you’re doing too. A conspiracy in search of evidence and motive. You don’t even know what this conspiracy is supposed to be either, but you know there is one! You’ve started out with the conviction it’s a conspiracy, now you’re trying to shoe-horn everything you can find into supporting it.

    Frankly, you’re a rather silly person.

  3. Murphy’s law of research:

    Enough research will tend to support your theory.

    Persig’s postulate:

    The number of rational hypotheses that can explain any given phenomenon is infinite.

  4. Both points are very true, Clark. But it’s not just “research” in Trowbridge’s case. I asked specific questions about points he had raised, just today, regarding the transponder and the lack of a Mayday call.

    Rather than discuss his own hand-picked points, Trowbridge just wades through and starts talking about Audis.

    OK, he wants to discuss Audis and their implications. Let’s talk about that. But no – now it’s about supposed “missing passengers”.

    *
    It’s always the same – slippery as can be. Same with the anti-vaxxers : Let me introduce you to A, B and C.

    Ok, let’s talk about them. A and B for instance…

    – Here, look at D, E and F! Are you blind, man?

    Alright – E and F are very dubious, because…

    – You’re lazy, you know that? I “googled” and found G and what about H ?! Hah!

    Can’t we talk about your earlier points for a moment?

    – You’re just afraid of the truth.
    – [much later…]
    – It’s well established that A, B and C….

    [Continues until you’ve had enough]

  5. You can find that there are 14 missing passengers by consulting The Huffington Post story about “Plane Victims Included…”, and counting up the numbers, resulting in 136 people of many nationalities.

    Seems that they must be Germans or Spainards, as there is little likelihood of their being in one of the groups which announced 3, 2 and 1 of their nationals killed, and it is almost impossible for them to belong to yet another nationality, unreported.

    Think Spain is more likely than Germany because the plane is German, the nationality of the most people reported up to now, and it is under a bigger obligation to come clean about what little it knows about the disaster.

    And original accounts which have now gone mussing talked about a Basque national delegation (PNV) being on the plane.

  6. Daily Mail and Bild continue to crank out stories, framing scapegoat Andreas Lubitz as a suicidal, mass killer.

    Today, we are told that doctors had prescribed him to take such high doses of Lorazepam that he was not fit to even drive a car, much less fly a plane.

    This is totally untrue, and you can find it out for yourself by simply reading descriptions of the drug on the internet which tells persons who want to take it to tell their doctor about various, possible conditions, including a history of suicidal tendencies, so that he can adjust the dosage to better suit the problem.

    There is no mention of ever being so dangerous as one not being fit to drive a car, much less an airplane.

  7. “resulting in 136 people of many nationalities”

    The list comes to 145. Which leaves 5 for crew. No missing 14 there.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/25/germanwings-passenger-nationalities_n_6937912.html

    —————————————————————————————————–

    “Today, we are told that doctors had prescribed him to take such high doses of Lorazepam that he was not fit to even drive a car, much less fly a plane. This is totally untrue.”

    No, it’s not. Lorazapam is Ativan, one of the benzodiazepines, like Valium, Librium, Xanax etc. Everyone prescribed a benzo is advised not to operate machinery or drive if the stuff makes you sleepy. It’s an anti-anxiety med. It enhances the effects of alcohol (and vice versa.) They are all addictive, and dreadful to get off if you become dependent on them.

    “Before taking lorazepam, tell your doctor if you are allergic to any drugs, or if you have:

    glaucoma;
    asthma, emphysema, bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD), or other breathing problems;
    kidney or liver disease;
    a history of depression or suicidal thoughts or behavior; or
    a history of drug or alcohol addiction.

    What should I avoid?

    Do not drink alcohol while taking lorazepam. This medication can increase the effects of alcohol. Lorazepam can cause side effects that may impair your thinking or reactions. Be careful if you drive or do anything that requires you to be awake and alert. Cold or allergy medicine, narcotic pain medicine, sleeping pills, muscle relaxers, and medicine for seizures, depression or anxiety can add to sleepiness caused by lorazepam. Tell your doctor if you regularly use any of these other medicines.”

    http://www.drugs.com/lorazepam.html

  8. ‘Cor… look at the lies these “officials” are coming up with now!

    From the NY Times:

    Germanwings Co-Pilot Researched Suicide and Cockpit Doors, Officials Say

    The co-pilot at the controls of the Germanwings airliner that crashed into the French Alps last week had been searching the Internet in the days leading up to the crash for information about how to commit suicide and the security measures for cockpit doors, prosecutors said here on Thursday.

    Investigators found an iPad belonging to Andreas Lubitz, the co-pilot, at his apartment here in Düsseldorf that included his browser history between March 16 and March 23.

    “During this time the user was searching for medical treatments, as well as informing himself about ways and possibilities of killing himself,” they said in a statement. “On at least one day the person concerned also spent several minutes looking up search terms about cockpit doors and their safety measures,” the statement said.

    The disclosure came as investigators in France reported finding the second so-called black box from the crash, which left all 150 people aboard dead.

    Also –

    http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/02/germanwings-crash-second-black-box-found

    French prosecutors, meanwhile, said the second black box from the Germanwings jet crash had been found the data recorder that contains readings for nearly every instrument on the plane.

    Fancy that! I thought it was supposed to have been whisked off.

  9. On Craig’s blog, Trowbridge has written

    “Looks like the Germanwings crash was an incident to redress the balance, and it was orchestrated apparently from the NATO Istres-Le Tube base northwest of Marseilles where there is all the navigational and helicopter facilities required to cause the crash, and fix the cover up.”

    So he has now found somewhere that has the equipment to interfere with the flying of the Airbus. So he’s decided that “NATO Istres-Le Tubé” did it. This is pure hogwash. Guesswork courtesy of T. H. Ford.

    Glenn got it bang-on

    “You’ve started out with the conviction it’s a conspiracy, now you’re trying to shoe-horn everything you can find into supporting it.”

  10. Just shows what a liar Dreoilin is, claiming she wouldn’t be answering my posts.

    And I was deliberately off by only one, to make sure posters read the link, and the number is 137, not 145 which she claimed, and would total 151 as there were six crew on the flight.

    So there are still 13 missing passengers, apparently all Spaniards.

  11. “Just shows what a liar Dreoilin is, claiming she wouldn’t be answering my posts.”

    I said nothing of the kind. Scroll back. I said I wouldn’t be “asking you any more questions”.

    “And I was deliberately off by only one”

    LMAO

  12. My calculator was off by 8. So yes, it comes to 137.
    But HuffPo says this (before the list)

    “Germanwings says 150 passengers and crew were aboard the plane that crashed Tuesday in the French Alps but it has not yet given a final list of the victims’ nationalities. The question is complicated because some passengers may have held dual citizenship. Here’s what is known so far:”

    And what I said on March 31 at 6.40pm was “I won’t be asking you any more questions. You’re another Chris Spivey.” so don’t you dare misquote me and then call me a liar.

  13. And Glenn_UK isn’t much better by using The Guardian to substantiate that the functioning FDR has been found since its recording cylinder had already been found with its memory card missing.

  14. http://news.camden.gov.uk/incident-at-holborn/

    Incident at Holborn
    Updated: Thursday 2 April 3.45pm

    Emergency services continue to attend the ongoing serious incident around Kingsway and we are working hard to ensure the safety and security of residents and businesses

    We understand from National Grid that it may be necessary to turn off the gas supply to some properties and they are communicating with their customers about this.

    Unfortunately National Grid are unable to confirm at the moment how many residents and businesses will be affected. Once we know what is needed we will provide the appropriate support to residents and businesses.

    We will keep information on this page updated.

  15. Happened there before!

    http://www.ianvisits.co.uk/blog/2013/12/20/1928-a-massive-gas-explosion-rips-along-holborn/

    1928 — A massive gas explosion rips along Holborn

    It’s 8 o’clock in the morning, and workers are hurrying along Holborn to their offices and shops, when a mighty explosion ripped up the road.

    One pedestrian was flung, in the air, a horse was killed, a taxi cab was over-turned and a number of manholes exploded. Half a mile of Holborn saw its road torn up by the subterranean explosion.

  16. Holborn – Holgate

    Back in about 1984 I stayed with friends in Holgate Road in York. One day, a big hole opened up in the middle of Holgate Road. That had happened before, too. I wondered if it had been happening for centuries, with the name meaning “Hole-gate Road” – lots of roads in York are postfixed “gate”.

  17. Now that HAS to be a false-flag operation, Squonk. Those dastardly CIA lasers is my bet, that’s the only thing that be causing fires like that.

  18. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/04/01/holborn_fire_takes_out_chuncks_of_power_and_internet_across_london/

    Power, internet access knackered in London after exploding kit burps fire into capital’s streets
    2,000 people evacuated as electrical blaze rages

    Some of the UK’s ISPs may want to rethink their routing schemes after a massive fire near Holborn tube station in London knocked out power and internet access across several regions of the capital.

    Read the comments to the above article for discussion of tunnels and WW2 deep shelters in the area.

    Clark – Holborn or “Hole Burn” 🙂 Hopefully not “Whole Burn”

  19. That’s the second time I posted a smiley — as I thought, under a certain comment. But someone else (in this case Squonk) was also posting, and my big smile ended up under the wrong comment. So I had to delete!

    😉

  20. http://www.subbrit.org.uk/rsg/sites/k/kingsway/

    CITADEL ACCOMMODATION
    The decision to allocate citadel accommodation at Chancery Lane was taken in January 1944, half to the operational staffs of the London Civil Defence region and Ministry of Works, plus some space for Combined Operations and the Inter Services Research Bureau (alias ISRB).

    The department known as the Government Communications Bureau was another cover name, relating to the combined signals intelligence (SIGINT) organisation of the three armed services. It later took the name of, and became more familiar as, Government Communications Headquarters or GCHQ.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmSblwFurbI

    Let’s hope the fire hasn’t found its way down there!

  21. The scapegoating of Andreas Lubitz just keeps coming with investigators claiming that he googled the internet for ways to commit suicide.

    If he had done so. he would have learned about using guns, slitting wrists, jumping off high places, taking poison, breathing carbon monoxide, etc., even crashing a monoplane into an IRS building, but he never would have found crashing an airliner into a mountain.

    Random curiosity, it seems, has been made into the motive for mass murder.

  22. Fire still shooting in the air on the live BBC London news a short time ago. Notice the BBC Camera has been moved further away since yesterday.

  23. Natural gas (which is what that leak is likely to be) is heavier than air, so there’s a fair chance it could get down to that underground bunker, the former GCHQ. Hope they’ve still got something to pump it out, like they would have if the Krauts had hit us with gas.

  24. Heck, Trowbridge, you’ve been leading us a wild goose chase with your figures from the Huffington Post. I looked at the article and as Dreoilin wrote, it says “here’s what is known so far”.

    Trowbridge, you really sorta shoulda mentioned that. You’ve pinned a lot those numbers but you’ve been acting like a used car salesman. I’m not saying your theory is wrong; it could all turn out to be just as you say, but it just isn’t proper research unless you state your uncertainties. Have you ever calculated error margins in an engineering context?

    Look, Trowbridge; why do you do this? Do you even know? Is it a feeling, an emotion that propels you?

  25. It’s quite Doctor Who; smoke and fire coming up from access covers, and old secret service headquarters under London. I reckon it’s the Cybermen.

  26. The Spanish PM admitted originally that there were 45 Spaniards on the Germanwings flight, so why are they now only admitting that there were 35?

    Who are these 10 or so Spaniards, and why is Madrid denying their very existence?

  27. Trowbridge, what do you mean by “admitted”? In what way is “Madrid denying their very existence”? Quotes and links would substantiate.

  28. http://news.camden.gov.uk/incident-at-holborn/

    Incident at Holborn
    Updated: Thursday 2 April 22:00hrs

    Emergency services continue to attend the ongoing serious incident around Kingsway and we are working hard to ensure the safety and security of residents and businesses

    National Grid have now turned off the gas to all the commercial properties on the West side of Kingsway.

  29. “Glenn, surely they’ve managed to turn the gas off by now…

    I’d have thought so too, but there it was – burning away merrily an entire day later. And they’ve only got around to shutting the gas off now. Given they don’t know exactly where this rather significant leak is, I’d have thought there was a worrying chance of it having settled down into lower levels.

  30. OK, who’s going to go and check Spivey’s site? I can just imagine…

    “So who’s this cunt in this fucking photo eh? And why isn’t he here now, huh? Note the blue and white hat (I’ll come back to this)… Why can’t these cunts get their fucking stories straight? They must think we’re thick.”

  31. Re: Spivey’s site: I imagine he’s also seen what Squonk noticed, the BBC camera pulling back:

    So why’ve they pulled the camera back eh? That’s cos they don’t want us to see whats going on, thats why! The police thought it was a bit close for comfort. Obviously this is just a ruse, this show is just to get people out of the area, shut off the power, shut off the gas, so a bunch of “mechanics” can get in there and plant bombs, so they can really stitch us up at some later date.

    There’s this bloke I’m in touch with, can’t blow his cover you see, but he’s right on the inside and is telling me stuff which turns my shite white. Not sure it’s even safe telling you this online – you’ll have to protect yourself now – and I’ll keep them away from these servers as long as I can. The rest is up to you. (By the way – send contributions, that’s the only thing keeping this site going now, as a beacon of freedom!)”

    [I hasten to add, for Trowbridge’s benefit, the above is not primary evidence…]

  32. WTF

    i come by To wish ALL Squonks a Merry easter …to find Mayhem, whats going on…

    well .. am busy next few days..in ze city…. But Fuck religions…Happy Marillion from me…. go to 2;40 for best guitar solo easter EVER had … These guys LIVE..are sumthing Else….This stuff Knows No Ocean Borders … BEN.. 🙂

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKjVbhAvGk0


    [Squonk: Happy to embed it for you. Thanks Brian 🙂 ]

  33. Happy Easter Brian.

    Marillion! Must’ve been about ’82 ‘cos I was at uni in London. This chap said come and see this band ‘cos they’re going to be big. I think I saw them at Dingwalls and twice at the 100 Club. Fish. Robes. Three Boats Down from the Candy? Dredging me old memory banks here… Very well rehearsed, very tight and professional, but if I wanted to hear something that much like Genesis I should really go and hear Genesis.

    One of the best gigs I ever went to was Peter Hammill at the Irish Centre in Leeds. Mesmerising. Just Hammill and a guitarist who played with an e-bow or some such, and a live tape loop. In the audience we sat at tables and seemed to be all holding our breath to hear every detail we could.

    Story of my life this piece – but when you lost track of all the moves you made you lost faith in wrong and right, oh it doesn’t seem conceivable…

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUq-V2Efh_o

  34. Thanks Clark. That YT video reminded me of a limerick from an old Omni magazine:

    A mathematician confided
    That a Moebius band is one sided.
    And you’ll get quite a laugh,
    if you cut it in half,
    Because it stays in one piece when divided.

    Damn, this is straining even my memory, since that Omni edition was printed in the late 1970’s/early 1980’s (IIRC), and I was a young child at the time.

    Does anyone else remember that scientific limerick competition?

  35. Astonishing how one remembers such things. Another entry in that competition was:

    “The Universe is curved”, noted Fred.
    An astronomer both learned and read.
    “This ‘scope has such power,
    I’ve just spent an hour,
    Observing the back of my head!”

    ——

    PS Clark – Wasn’t “Three boats down from the Candy ” on the B-side of a Marillion single? Haven’t heard that mentioned in decades. But… “I’ll remember you!”

  36. Glen…

    i would Love Confab… Rather than Conflict… You NEED Doun T.R.H…..

  37. Clark..

    Nowadays there are Two Marills… My Son Loved Marillion… Now he is ….Soldier

    Sorry

  38. A burleyque dancer, a pip
    Named Virginia, could peel in a zip;
    But she read science fiction
    And died of constriction
    Attempting a Moebius strip.

    — Cyril Kornbluth, “The Unfortunate Topology”

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