In the news

Part of Broadmoor Hospital is going up in flames. According to Berks Fire it is in a "derelict" part of the old buildings. I imagine some of their clientele are quite excitable at the moment.

https://weather.com/news/weather/video/deadly-tornado-floods-bring-chaos-to-mexico

G20 country’s climate is starting to fall apart. Weeks without rain, 40C one day, 70cm of compacted hail the next.

Buildings insurance will become unaffordable to more and more people. We need homes which float in a flood.

One of the BBMF Spitfires has crashed at RAF Coningsby. Pilot dead. (He also flew Typhoons.) Engine stopped seconds after take off. Aircraft came down a few yards from the end of the runway.

My first thought was that it's inevitable, albeit very rare, when a single engine aircraft operates from a small airfield which doesn't have safe areas to land in when the engine stops just after take off, which it will every now and again. Sod's law. The crash site next to Langrick Road is so close to the runway. Can anyone familiar with Coningsby identify the house in the news pics? https://news.sky.com/story/aircraft-...shire-13142278 https://maps.app.goo.gl/1PAmsyyHXcws8ASz5 The engine must have cut out at the worst possible moment, when the pilot had no option but to do a controlled crash straight ahead. Early reports say the aircraft flipped upon landing in a field. https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/388312 Maybe the touchdown was safe but the flip was caused by the wheels digging into a rough and/or soggy field? Or maybe he banked in the final seconds to avoid the nearby house, thereby sacrificing himself? Those seem the likeliest scenarios to me. The worst possible luck, but nobody to blame. It's a pity that such an important airfield is so small. In other countries the national interceptor fleet would have many acres of space for all those things which go wrong when taking off or landing.

Not sure where the idea that Coningsby is small
comes from, it’s a former V-bomber base and the runway is over 2700m long.

Unfortunately, with something like a Spitfire, there’s a big element of luck in surviving an engine failure after takeoff.

Long runway, but the ends are very close to public roads and buildings. Now imagine an aircraft using the whole runway. Suddenly there's nowhere to go.

The aircraft came to rest 200m from the taxiway. See the 2nd photo here https://news.sky.com/story/pilot-killed-in-spitfire-crash-in-lincolnshire-is-named-13143447 and this video https://www.facebook.com/HitsRadioLincs/videos/878305174060319?locale=en_GB They put the aircraft in the centre of this image, in the hedge between the house and the ploughed field https://maps.app.goo.gl/1k3XxzTiG88CMLmB8.

Same with any single engined aeroplane designed more than 80 years ago. Actually small aircraft have a real high death rate when things go wrong.

All depends where you can land it. It behaves well in a stall and glides OK. Not a handful for such a good pilot.

Mexico and India are both sizzling at the moment, going north of 50c on the sub continent
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/1795021356481847499?t=S8MEMdeKxM4gOAyYtIpSjA&s=19

Mexico City breaking 150 year record, hitting near 35C at 2300m altitude

The Met say they will put 80 detectives on the Post Office wrongful prosecutions, with a view to criminal trials in 2027ish. Quite a challenge to get convictions, but at least the guilty will be living in fear for a looong time. https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/may/27/post-office-scandal-police-to-deploy-80-detectives-for-criminal-inquiry

Somebody upthread wanted this flag. 3' x 5'. Awlwight geezer? Firty sovs. https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1671782373/lgbt-england-pride-flag-3x5-british

Haha I think I suggested that a while back.
Excellent.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/27/us/memorial-day-weekend-storms.html

Video compilation in the article is really something.

That this is even allowed baffles me. If these people were paying their taxes correctly the public services would be better.

https://www.theguardian.com/news/article/2024/may/28/billionaire-non-dom-quit-uk-hunt-scrapped-tax-breaks-taxes

But has Hunt also done this to hurt labours prospects?

“We did have one billionaire client who literally on the day of the budget, 6 March, got on his private jet with his wife, with his children, with the private tutor, and flew to one of his other 17 houses in the world – and said ‘I’m not coming back’,”

Good you cunt, hope your plane crashes.

Good. We don't want them here.

Legislation to expropriate their assets and revoke their passport (if they are British) would be welcome.

A London that is no longer a piggy bank and playground for the global elite would be a welcome thing.

Apparently the Spitfire is a tricky plane to land however experienced the pilot
https://www.rafstories.org/story/raf-wp-9879

Oh no, a non-dom who doesn't pay tax here is going to continue not paying tax here. Anyway...

The pope's (very thin veneer) mask has slipped...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cpvvyxr79glo

Won't somebody think of the trickle down???

'xactly. The family run Lamborghini dealerships in Knightsbridge will be nervy

“We did have one billionaire client who literally on the day of the budget, 6 March, got on his private jet with his wife, with his children, with the private tutor, and flew to one of his other 17 houses in the world – and said ‘I’m not coming back’,”

https://youtu.be/cepZIk0PlvM?si=PWXNdWcmYclvlVIu

An enterprising Chancellor could formulate a 'Final Departure tax',
based upon tax to be avoided over, say the next 25 years.

https://x.com/therealmissjo/status/1795686608655782076

Tatler published an article yesterday that said “Kate Middleton steps
out with her family…for the first time since revealed cancer
diagnosis”.

How wonderful.

And yet, here we go again…the photo is from November 2023.