Because The United Kingdom?

[Stuart Galbraith]

Particularly like this one...

 

[Murph]

Good on your PM:

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13461215/Rishi-Sunak-National-Service-peacetime-conscription-Britain-safe.html

[Ssnake]

Won't hold my breath to see how many MPs' children will get drafted.

[Stuart Galbraith]

There were hilarious headlines from the Conservative papers saying 'The Royals will have to put up with conscription', darkly warning the heir to the thrown will have to go through it. Which is kind of like saying Winnie the Pooh will have to pay taxes, which he wont, because he doesnt exist.

Murph, its not going to happen. This is just a ploy by a conservative Prime minister to try to appeal to the deep bleached blue Tories, so they turn out and vote and dont abandon him. Its an act of desperation that has as much chance of happening as I do of becoming Prime Minister.

Personally, I can see the value of this. I would like to see it happen, for logistics units, communications units, maybe even the RAF Regiment whom guard the airbases. But someone did a calculation, its going to take 5 Billion Pounds to find accomodation for all these young people. The MOD is so strapped for cash, they just reduced the army by 18000. It just doesnt ring true like a well considered policy, and it isnt.

If you want a comparison, David Cameron in 2015 promised a Brexit vote, not because he wanted one, he was dead set against one, but because it was safe to offer one because he believed he would end up with a coalition Government and wouldnt have to do it. The Conservatives are always doing this kind of thing, and you would think they would have learned their lesson by now.

[Murph]

I see the National Service as a pretty good idea as long as everyone gets treated equally.  It forces young men to learn to get along with other young men, and allows for some discipline.  I would like to see the draft come back to the US for men and women.  My years of Military service were, at least to me, a net positive.  

[Stuart Galbraith]

But, this is Britain, and people dont get treated equally. Its not an equal society, and never has been. When you guys declared independence, you had that figured out if nothing else.

There is something of an irony here of course. Socialists are the ones usually accused of Social engineering. There was an Army veteran whom popped up on my twitter feed that pointed out this is less about the security of the nation (which the Tories did more than their fair share of trimming), and far more, to the conservatives admission, about educating 18 year olds. Which if the Labour party advocated it (and the last year of Browns tenture he advocated something similar, to the general derision of the press), it would indeed be labelled social engineering.

Personally, im not agains the idea, as long as there is a need for lots of uneducated 18 year olds, and here is funding to accomodate them. Currently there is neither. Which tells you its a scam, just to get people to vote. The only positive is that its finally made defence an election issue, even though its largely over non issues.

 

My view, bring back the Territorial Army, rather than pissing about with non issues like this. 

[R011]

it would be cheaper and better for morale, personnel numbers, and effectiveness if they just improved pay and living conditions for voluntary service.

Edited May 27, 2024 by R011

[Ssnake]

Now you're being downright silly.

[R011]

4 hours ago, Ssnake said:

Now you're being downright silly.

You're right, of course.  It's a ridiculous idea.  Whatever could I have been thinking.

[Argus]

On 5/23/2024 at 5:08 PM, Stuart Galbraith said:

Right now I took clippings off the 500 year old tree that stood in our village and was unceremoniously brought down,, and trying heaven and earth to raise its successors. I dont shout about it, I dont make TV programmes about it. But if im successful (a very large if at the moment) im going to plant them around the periphery of our village so it can watch over it hopefully for the next 500 years.  

 

Fuck yeah Stu - bravo 

[Argus]

4 hours ago, R011 said:

You're right, of course.  It's a ridiculous idea.  Whatever could I have been thinking.

I know right - or even if pay and conditions were too much, an actual culture review to try and get reduce of the own goals that piss people off and drive down retention. 

[rmgill]

20 minutes ago, Argus said:

Fuck yeah Stu - bravo 

I'm waiting for the revelation that he needs a special license to do so for a tree that old or that planting them in certain locations is prohibited without a different license. 

[rmgill]

 

[Argus]

2 hours ago, rmgill said:

I'm waiting for the revelation that he needs a special license to do so for a tree that old or that planting them in certain locations is prohibited without a different license. 

or you could just go with the flow and appreciate a decent action 

[Stuart Galbraith]

4 hours ago, Argus said:

Fuck yeah Stu - bravo 

Well they are looking rather yellow. It was a Yew tree, buried over the grave of a reputed Witch. I used the advice of the national trust to mix compost with sand, but they didnt give the ratio.

Well, they have survived 3 months away from their mother tree, hopefully they will go the distance.

[Stuart Galbraith]

1 hour ago, Argus said:

or you could just go with the flow and appreciate a decent action 

No, that would mean conceding he got something wrong about me. It seems to be beyond him.

[Argus]

15 hours ago, Stuart Galbraith said:

No, that would mean conceding he got something wrong about me. It seems to be beyond him.

You did not need to say a bloody thing mate. 

I thought you did something genuinely good.

Ryan wanted to use it as a weapon, and that wasn't happening.

Now you want to use that as a weapon and I'm not having that shit from you either.  

This is why we can't have nice things. 

[Argus]

16 hours ago, Stuart Galbraith said:

Well they are looking rather yellow. It was a Yew tree, buried over the grave of a reputed Witch. I used the advice of the national trust to mix compost with sand, but they didnt give the ratio.

Well, they have survived 3 months away from their mother tree, hopefully they will go the distance.

It looks like they just need a free draining soil. According to my mother who has seriously green thumbs, they don't like wet feet it's significant stressor - ie likely to turn them yellow. 

She suggests pulling one and potting it up as a reserve - or taking it to someone who knows how to propagate properly. She's also utterly horrified at the loss of such a tree so your local council is lucky there's a planet between us.

Edited May 29, 2024 by Argus

[Stuart Galbraith]

Yeah, I did about 6 to 9 with varying quantities of sand and composts. Only 3 have gotten this far.

Yes, quite so, I think I was probably overwatering them. I looked this morning after not watering them last night, kept them in the greenhouse, and they look rather greener than they did. So I think the trick going forward is keep them damp, but not overwater them. Kinda spoiling them I guess.

Yeah, dont know anyone whom does this. There is an aboretum nearby, I dont know if they would be interested in doing something with one. They do seem to have damn near everything else there, including Redwoods.

 Yeah, it was a strange story. The majority of it came down in the big storm in March. It actually sat outside our window, probably one of the things my late father looked at the most when he was ill, so it has some significance. So the owner comes and sees me when Im walking the dog one morning and talks about it, says 'it will never be the same again' (although as it was over 500 years one has to ask how one would know what it used to be like, but still). I point blank told him, the stump is still living (it still had branches on it), we would like it to be left alone, to either recover or die naturally. But no, a month later he gets in a guy with a chainsaw and cuts the rest down without further discussion. Then to add insult to injury he leaves the rest lying in fron of our window for 2 months rotting.

Here is what it looked like. Being a Yew it admittedly didnt look like much (bit of a scraggy old thing tbh), but the history kind of made it. We have two other trees of what must be a similar age in the Churchyard.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.642679,-2.2000263,3a,75y,196.14h,92.07t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sOgKBTQ41EYZoCP3Nr9KWog!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DOgKBTQ41EYZoCP3Nr9KWog%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.share%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26yaw%3D196.13514666835633%26pitch%3D-2.072202704578004%26thumbfov%3D90!7i16384!8i8192?coh=205410&entry=ttu

Well what can I say, the entire country is run like this, I cant be surprised trees are at a low order of interest. The only good news I can say is that we have a walnut tree thats over 600 years old up by the castle, that likely survived the small battle we had in the civil war here. Its now propped up on 2 telephone poles, but he still seems to keep going, so its some consolation.

 

 

[Argus]

That arboretum, plant folk tend to be enthusiasts, if you dropped in there, I'd be surprised if you walked away from without at least some helpful advice.  No harm in asking anyway.  


 

[rmgill]

On 5/28/2024 at 3:29 AM, Stuart Galbraith said:

No, that would mean conceding he got something wrong about me. It seems to be beyond him.

Good on you planting trees. However that's not the big failing going on in your country. Let us know when the deer you can barely hunt eat the trees and other critters ring the base of the trees and kill them. 

The key point I was making and rebutting with you is you have too many regulations, too many busy bodies and too little productive activity that's hindered by those regulations and busy bodies. 

[Stuart Galbraith]

4 hours ago, Argus said:

That arboretum, plant folk tend to be enthusiasts, if you dropped in there, I'd be surprised if you walked away from without at least some helpful advice.  No harm in asking anyway.  


 

Its a good idea.

[JWB]

 

[Stuart Galbraith]

 

[Ivanhoe]

Make Britain Norman Again?