Secret Squirrel finds, as do you, that the IOC, the International
Olympic Committee,has REMOVED wrestling, as an Olympic sport.In what's
already been deemed a regrettable decision, and an unnecessary one at
that, the IOC has opted to remove wrestling from the 2020
Olympics.WRESTLING, a sport which for every and all reasons should be
forever enshrined,guarenteed and held in the most high regard as an
OLYPMIC sport,wrestling the SECOND Olympic sport, added after
running.....imagine that, remove WRESTLING from the Olympics as a
sport........ridiculous,idiot,retarded,such are the words to describe the decision and hence also the IOC itself..
The
news came down from IOC headquarters in Switzerland early Tuesday and
is certainly a surprise. Wrestling is among the oldest sports known to
man. It's mentioned in the Bible. It has connections to the ancient
games, centuries ago held in Greece. But it's on its way out, at least
for 2020, barring a miracle.That's right,WRESTLING.I just can't see any
reason why the IOC decided to remove wrestling from 2020 Games.
Wrestling is a popular sport.Wrestling, imagine, wrestling, the second
ORIGINAL Olympic sport, right up to the present day no less, all those
years, all those Olympics, for well over 2700 years, imagine.Why, and
how wrestling has been removed by the IOC one cannot really comprehend
nor imagine. Consider now, the joke sports of
golf,table
tennis,badminton,canoeing.The IOC considers these magnificent and
important sports of man and humanity, but not it seems, wrestling.That's
right, wrestling.Wrestling which,right behind running was the second
OLYMPIC ORIGINAL sport.
Right there from the very beginnings,
there it was,and is, a sport THAT GREAT, a sport of THAT
IMPORT........Table tennis only originated as a sport, in Britain, in
1880,thereabouts,roundabouts,badminton in the
1700's by the British
army, in India,golf in the 1400's in Scotland.......the origin of
canoeing as a recreation and sport is often attributed to Scottish
explorer John MacGregor (1825–1892,note wrestling from the beginnings of
the Olympics,like 2700 years ago.Caneoing began with the 1936 Hitler
Olympics,Berlin.Badminton since 1992,table tennis
since 1988,golf in 1900 and 1904 only, to appear 2016 and 2020...the IOC is not sparing us their idiocy.
Consider
now that the Olympic Games began over 2,700 years ago in Olympia, in
southwest Greece.The earliest myths regarding the origin of the games
are recounted by the Greek historian, Pausanias,and others who have
differing versions, but just as the IOC doesn't like wrestling, I don't
like the other Olympic origin tales,so I'm going with this version.
According to the story, the dactyl Herakles (not to be confused with the
son of Zeus) and four of his brothers, Paeonaeus, Epimedes, Iasius and
Idas, raced at Olympia to entertain the newborn Zeus. He crowned the
victor with an olive tree wreath, (which thus became a peace symbol)
which also explains the four year interval, bringing the games around
every fifth year (counting inclusively).The other Olympian gods (so
named because they lived permanently on Mount Olympus), would also
engage in wrestling, jumping and running contests.The Olympic Games,the
Olympia, the Olympics, were a series of athletic competitions among
representatives of city-states of Ancient Greece. They were held in
honor of Zeus, and the Greeks gave them a mythological origin.
Historical
records indicate that they began in 776 BC in Olympia. They continued
to be celebrated when Greece came under Roman rule, until the emperor
Theodosius I suppressed them in 394 AD as part of the campaign to impose
Christianity as the state religion of Rome. The games were usually held
every four years, or olympiad, which became a unit of time in
historical chronologies. During the celebration of the games, an Olympic
Truce was enacted so that athletes could travel from their countries to
the games in safety. The prizes for the victors were wreaths of laurel
leaves. The games became a political tool used by city-states to assert
dominance over their rivals. Politicians would announce political
alliances at the games, and in times of war, priests would offer
sacrifices to the gods for victory.At first, the Olympic Games lasted
only one day, but eventually grew to five days. The Olympic Games
originally contained one event: the stadion (or "stade") race, a short
sprint measuring between 180 and 240 metres (590 and 790
ft), or the
length of the stadium. The length of the race is uncertain, since
tracks found at archeological sites, as well as literary evidence,
provide conflicting measurements. Runners had to pass five stakes that
divided the lanes: one stake at the start, another at the finish, and
three stakes in between.
The diaulos, or two-stade race, was
introduced in 724 BC, during the 14th Olympic games. The race was a
single lap of the stadium, approximately 400 metres (1,300 ft), and
scholars debate whether or not the runners had individual "turning"
posts for the return leg of the race, or whether all the runners
approached a common post, turned, and
then raced back to the starting line.
A
third foot race, the dolichos, was introduced in 720 BC. Accounts of
the race present conflicting evidence as to the length of the dolichos;
however, the length of the race was 18–24 laps, or about three miles (5
km). The runners would begin and end their event in the stadium proper,
but the race course would wind its way through the Olympic grounds. The
course often would flank important shrines and statues in the sanctuary,
passing by the Nike statue by the temple of Zeus before returning to
the stadium.
The last running event added to the Olympic program
was the hoplitodromos, or "Hoplite race", introduced in 520 BC and
traditionally run as the last race of the Olympic Games. The runners
would run either a single or double diaulos (approximately 400 or 800
yards) in full or partial armour, carrying a shield and additionally
equipped either with
greaves or a helmet. The course they used for these runs were made out of clay, with sand over the clay.
Over
the years, more events were added: boxing (pygme/pygmachia), wrestling
(pale) in 708 BC, and pankration, a fighting competition combining both
elements. Wrestling was also the final decisive event in the ancient
pentathlon.
Boxing became increasingly brutal over the
centuries. Initially, soft leather covered their fingers, but
eventually, hard leather with metal sometimes was used. The fights had
no rest periods and no rules against hitting a man while he was down.
Bouts continued until one man either surrendered or died- however,
killing an opponent wasn't a good thing, as the dead boxer was
automatically declared the winner.
Other events include chariot
racing, as well as a pentathlon, consisting of wrestling, stadion, long
jump, javelin throw, and discus throw (the latter three were not
separate events).In the chariot racing event, it was not the rider, but
the owner of the chariot and team who was considered to be the
competitor, so one owner could win more than one of the top
spots.Contested in the first modern Olympics in 1896 and part of the
ancient Games in Olympia, wrestling will now join seven other candidate
sports battling for one spot in a revamped programme.Wrestling joins
baseball
and softball, making a joint bid, martial arts karate and wushu,
rollersports, wakeboarding, squash and sports climbing as candidates for
the one open spot.Russian wrestling federation chief Mikhail
Mamiashvili was shocked by the decision but was confident his sport
would remain in the Games.
"I'm absolutely convinced this ancient
sport will retain its status," Mamiashvili, who won an Olympic gold
medal in 1988, told Reuters. The International Olympic Committee is
dropping wrestling from competition after the 2016 Games in Rio de
Janeiro, the result of some elaborate secret ballot it holds every so
often to determine its 25 "core sports."
In part because golf and
rugby are coming to the Olympics, something had to go. This time it was
wrestling, apparently edged out by the modern pentathlon for
survival.As such, both freestyle (somewhat similar to what you see in
American high schools and colleges) and Greco Roman, each of which dated
back to the 1896 Games in Greece, will soon be history. Wrestling can
try to get back in, but the odds are long.
It's golf,table
tennis,badminton,canoeing that should never have been granted access in
the first place.Forget arguing the various strengths and weaknesses of
each sport. That's often a cultural opinion. This is a global event and
tastes vary. In the United States, badminton is considered a joke,
something played at backyard barbeques, even occasionally while sober.
In the overcrowded cities of third-world countries, however, it's a way
to play tennis – basically street tennis for the non-wealthy. They don't
have a lot of All-Lawn Tennis Clubs in Malaysia. Millions take
badminton seriously and consider watching it at the highest level a
sight to behold.And that's part of why badminton is a fine Olympic
sport.Badminton also plays to another Olympic strength – winning the
gold medal is a huge deal to those athletes, the pinnacle for most. So
is winning a gold medal in modern pentathlon. Same for wrestling.
That's
not at all the case for golf, where a gold medal isn't a green jacket.
However, it could still feature in 2020 should the IOC include it as an
additional sport when it meets in Buenos Aires in September. Wrestling
will compete with baseball/softball, roller sports, rock climbing,
squash, wakeboarding and wushu, a Chinese martial art, for the remaining
place, with each presenting their case for inclusion to the executive
board in May.The 25 core sports the IOC guards............The 25 sports
are: athletics, rowing, badminton, basketball, boxing, canoeing,
cycling, equestrian, fencing, football, gymnastics, weightlifting,
handball, hockey, judo, aquatics, modern pentathlon, taekwondo, tennis,
table tennis, shooting, archery, triathlon, sailing and
volleyball.What's wrong with this
list.........well..................badminton, how utterly ridiculous as a
sport........canoeing...........oh please there's just no sparing us is
there........table tennis...............the favorite sport of mental
patients
in mental institutions without a doubt. Then there's also
golf, which they have added as a sport in Rio and there for will be in
the 202 Olympics as well.....golf, you know, where these lads take hours
for a few of them to hit a tiny white ball around the course,and see
how many can (and they do), land the ball BEHIND the golf hole, and have
it bounce up and backwards and land, lo and behold, in the cup.Golf
will be an Olympic sport in 2016. Ridiculous.
Golf. How it came
to be that it's worthy/necessary for Olympic inclusion is typically
hilarious/nonsensical.So they want to remove one of the original sports
of the Olympics in favor of..........badminton,table
tennis,canoeing,golf.........how utterly and
completely..idiotic...........retarded...........weak
minded.........chaotic..........confused...........and..................quite
plainly and utterly...................................lacking in
intelligence, but then the IOC has rarely been noted for being much more
than that in the first place. It has been said that one can talk to the
IOC but it is a body compeletly
devoid of reasoning abilities.But
what we will see,now, is many nations, supporting the retention of
wrestling,contrary to the IOC,and the IOC will see and be made to
understand, that the OLYMPICS is and are those
nations, the nations
of the world, THEY are the OLYMPICS, and NOT the IOC.Why can’t IOC just
add another sport and keep wrestling, you ask? Because the organization
values exclusivity and clubbiness and self-importance. There are 26
sports now. Would it hurt anyone or compromise the Olympics or be a huge
economic burden to have 27 sports on the summer program? No.
Instead,
wrestling — quite possibly the world’s oldest sport, a sport with an
Olympic tradition going back to ancient times — gets the boot. Going
into this executive board vote, modern pentathlon, the eccentric sport
that combines swimming, fencing, running, equestrian and shooting,
seemed most at risk. But political connections may save modern
pentathlon.Why should not political connections save wrestling.Why
should not ALL the nations who support wrestling save wrestling? Why
should NOT sports such as table tennis,badminton, canoeing,and the
utterly and completely idiot golf not even yet ALL go out in it's place?
Such is the IOC, a joke, a really bad joke, a collection of ridiculous
clowns all proceeding from bad to worse in their decisions with respect
to the Olympics.
Of the decision,most have echoed these
comments.....“I can’t imagine an Olympic games without wrestling,” says
Penn State wrestling coach Cael Sanderson, who won four national
championships at Iowa State and an Olympic gold medal in 2004. “That’s
not an option. We have time here to show the IOC they made the wrong
decision. It’s up to us and the
Iranians and Russians and everyone else to help them know this.”This includes the Japanese,Australian,British,French
German,Turkish,Arab nations etc etc etc..........imagine, THE NATIONS which make up the Olympics, don't support the
decision,
and DEMAND it's reversal...................and the IOC should
recant,repent,apologize AND place wrestling back where it belongs.If
they want to remove something, let them remove something idiot,such as
golf,table tennis,badminton and or canoeing.The IOC is about to learn
that the nations of the world prefer to eat bread,the bread of
wrestling, not the bitter cake of the removal of wrestling as an olympic
sport.
Showing posts with label olympics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label olympics. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Secret Squirrel Says Britain Should Form A True National Guard Reserve.
Secret Squirrel has perked up his ears and heard of the sad sorry state
Olympic Security is at.Imagine Olympic Security, simply security for an
event such as The Olympics. Of course this was never seen as necessary
in earlier years, but due to recent activities and events round and
about the world, invasions,wars and what have we had our government do,
we now require this. The Olympics requires security.More security,
greater security.And, does Britain and the British people NOT require
the self same, security? Indeed it does, but what has actually occurred,
revealed by the sad sorry state of the Olympics, the
stress,imagine,stress, it is now placing,placing, on Britain's
military!Stress!Imagine stress,manpower stress,stretching
resources,stretching manpower, a thing as ridiculous as the Olympics!
Imagine, it never stressed anybody else, any other nation,no, it
stresses Britain, only Britain.Sad state of affairs,sorry state of
affairs, ridiculous state of affairs. The military is being stressed,
stressed also,by evidently a short supply of manpower, imagine, THE
MILITARY!The very thought of something like this years back would bring
hearty guffaws in each and every Old Boys Club round and about the
nation,Parliament would have it's walls shake with the laughter such a
mention would produce,people would fall out of pubs for the laughing.But
face it, it's just not funny.
Well let's look at the overview of things....
British Military OVERVIEW (as at early 2012)
Regular Forces
Royal Navy 35,430 (includes 7,500 Royal Marines)
Army 101,300
Royal Air Force 40,090
Total Regular Forces
176,810 (excludes approximately 3,800 Gurkhas and approximately 2,040 Full Time Reserve Service (FTRS) personnel)
Regular Reserves
Volunteer Reserves 37,600
Cadet Forces 133,000 - Sea Cadets -14,000, Army Cadets - 75,800, Air Training Corps - 43,000
MoD Civilians 85,000
Well now, look at the army.Do you realize that actual FIGHTING men are actually half of the figure, the rest are various support,administration as it were!The British military is sadly drawn down.Defence Secretary Philip Hammond has confirmed that an additional 3,500 military personnel will be deployed as part of the security arrangements for the 2012 Olympic Games.
This will bring the total number of military personnel, from all three Services and including reservists, contributing to the safety and security of the Games to 17,000.And they also state, that this drains,taxes,strains...THE MILITARY.In short as it were, they're taken short, all round and about.
Well it figures.Britain is in a sad sorry state.What thence needs be done,since the military is being constantly reduced, is Britain must increase actual reserves,then,form a concentrated effort to create and evolve an actual real National Guard,or Home Guard,the Part Time Soldier, trained for all events really, and utilized as such, and ready for call-up for various crisis and events...such as flood relief etc on the home front, assistance in whatever disaster as needed, ready for call-up such as is being done for Olympic Security, and,of course, if necessary foreign defences,such as the Falklands or Gibraltar,and various foreign wars or so called policing and peace keeping activities.As presently configured the reserves are really only geared to military activities. Of course, the Navy,a Navy, must be maintained, along with an Air Force,and here also a working functional reserve force must be created but also yet trained for uses in national emergencies and disasters. Of course this is along lines originally envisaged and actually at one time, so done in America, The National Guard, up until recently when the Americans simply used them as active troops.Of course we now see America as extremely disorganized internally with little or no help for it's citizenry as they suffer from tornadoes,hurricanes floods and whatever disasters the constantly suffer from, they now being left mostly to their own devices.We see in America National Guard units played a major role in providing security and assisting recovery efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, in September 2005.
In January and February 2007, National Guard troops from 8 states were activated to go help shovel snow, drop hay for starving cattle, deliver food and necessities to stranded people in their houses, and help control traffic and rescue stranded motorists in blizzards dropping feet of snow across that country.
What we should be doing, in Britain, is form a definite National Guard, reservists, functioning as the National Guard in America actually used to. It worked, unquestionably it worked, and it will work for us all round.
Well let's look at the overview of things....
British Military OVERVIEW (as at early 2012)
Regular Forces
Royal Navy 35,430 (includes 7,500 Royal Marines)
Army 101,300
Royal Air Force 40,090
Total Regular Forces
176,810 (excludes approximately 3,800 Gurkhas and approximately 2,040 Full Time Reserve Service (FTRS) personnel)
Regular Reserves
Volunteer Reserves 37,600
Cadet Forces 133,000 - Sea Cadets -14,000, Army Cadets - 75,800, Air Training Corps - 43,000
MoD Civilians 85,000
Well now, look at the army.Do you realize that actual FIGHTING men are actually half of the figure, the rest are various support,administration as it were!The British military is sadly drawn down.Defence Secretary Philip Hammond has confirmed that an additional 3,500 military personnel will be deployed as part of the security arrangements for the 2012 Olympic Games.
This will bring the total number of military personnel, from all three Services and including reservists, contributing to the safety and security of the Games to 17,000.And they also state, that this drains,taxes,strains...THE MILITARY.In short as it were, they're taken short, all round and about.
Well it figures.Britain is in a sad sorry state.What thence needs be done,since the military is being constantly reduced, is Britain must increase actual reserves,then,form a concentrated effort to create and evolve an actual real National Guard,or Home Guard,the Part Time Soldier, trained for all events really, and utilized as such, and ready for call-up for various crisis and events...such as flood relief etc on the home front, assistance in whatever disaster as needed, ready for call-up such as is being done for Olympic Security, and,of course, if necessary foreign defences,such as the Falklands or Gibraltar,and various foreign wars or so called policing and peace keeping activities.As presently configured the reserves are really only geared to military activities. Of course, the Navy,a Navy, must be maintained, along with an Air Force,and here also a working functional reserve force must be created but also yet trained for uses in national emergencies and disasters. Of course this is along lines originally envisaged and actually at one time, so done in America, The National Guard, up until recently when the Americans simply used them as active troops.Of course we now see America as extremely disorganized internally with little or no help for it's citizenry as they suffer from tornadoes,hurricanes floods and whatever disasters the constantly suffer from, they now being left mostly to their own devices.We see in America National Guard units played a major role in providing security and assisting recovery efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, in September 2005.
In January and February 2007, National Guard troops from 8 states were activated to go help shovel snow, drop hay for starving cattle, deliver food and necessities to stranded people in their houses, and help control traffic and rescue stranded motorists in blizzards dropping feet of snow across that country.
What we should be doing, in Britain, is form a definite National Guard, reservists, functioning as the National Guard in America actually used to. It worked, unquestionably it worked, and it will work for us all round.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Secret Squirrel,Ever Onwards To Improve The World
Keywords:
intelligent,weapons,war,habakkuk,aircraft,carrier,ice,olympics,rings,ships,cement,transportation,floods,canals,bridge,wall,garbage,disposal,farming
Secret Squirrel, of the MRL,Monster Raving Loony Party, his hopes,his dreams,his plans,his engineering designs,his plans for the national defense,plans in the food and farming sector,his financial plans for the good and the betterment of the people of England, Britain, and the World.....what's good for secret Squirrel is good for you, and everything he plans is good for you.......he has good intentions, remember, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
M.R.L. Manned Intelligent Weapons Delivery System
In view of recent austerity measures taken with respect to the armed forces, I have turned my attention to attempting to alleviate the problem somewhat. Here we see a development of my manned intelligent weapons delivery system. What we do is utilize the intelligence, of man, in this case,the airman, Basically he's suspended by a detachable harness to the wing ordinance pylon, in short, he's the actual delivery system...........much cheaper than missile development.
The Japanese were the first developing an intelligent guidance system for aircraft bombs,however, theirs were of the expendable variety, the so called Kamakazi,who were expended along with the bomb delivery vehicle.It was known as a Baka bomb system,as well, which is Japanese for Idiot Bomb,which they had to be to take such a job. Their system failed basically in the delivery,many times, basically due to the lack of intelligence for those who signed up for that particular job,and also in the fact that their intelligent airman expired when so employed.This was and is considered to be highly detrimental in future recruitment.
Ours is an offshoot of the first system,however, no harm actually comes to the airman,which no doubt will please British airmen, and also increase recruitment. In our system, the British airman is re-loadable and reusable.Note the extreme flexibility this system offers, along with the abilities to intelligently direct and deliver fire towards the enemy with a multitude of weapons available to be used. Here the airman is shown holding a simple automatic pistol,such as one sees used to such great effect in U.S. schools. Of course said stated automatic pistol could be replaced by an automatic rifle, or say fully automatic machine gun. The system could also use and carry and drop grenades intelligently on target,properly aimed. Further flexibility is available through the airman equipped use of an R.P.G. type of weapon.
Of course what with recent remarks made by Air Vice Marshall "Kamakazi" Walker,obviously deeply influenced by the Japanese Kamakazi Corps, has mentioned the possibility of suicide missions being flown against Taliban or other terror groups,by our present British air forces. He's obviously also seen the ridiculous unintelligent side of intelligent bombs and delivery systems etc, but has gone a touch Baka suggesting that the airman should intelligently guide the bombs to the target, and then see to it,personally,that the bomb etc crashes in to it's target,dashing themselves to pieces. One assumes that should government not be in our hands, and our system developed,that the Air Vice Marshall might order the weapons carrier airman also dropped on an enemy target,misfortunately. Of course, as the system development experiments continue and the system takes form to a fully operational working intelligent weapons system, one hopes that by then the M.R.L. would have achieved government, and so too, no doubt does our weapons system itself.
Secret Squirrel,
M.R.L.
Minister For Re-Deranged Re-Engineering.
.....................................
MRL Revives The Secretly Abandoned Project Habakkuk
Project Habakkuk
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Habakkuk
Project Habakkuk or Habbakuk (spelling varies; see below) was a plan by the British in World War II to construct an aircraft carrier out of pykrete (a mixture of wood pulp and ice), for use against German U-boats in the mid-Atlantic, which was out of range of land-based planes.
And .......................
http://www.royalnavalmuseum.org/info_sheets_Habbakkuk.htm
The Habbakuk Project
HABBAKUK: GEOFFREY PYKE'S ICEBERG AIRCRAFT CARRIER
In 1942, the Allied forces were losing a considerable amount of merchant shipping in the Atlantic Ocean, due to German submarine forces and the lack of adequate air cover in the mid-Atlantic. The range of operating aircraft was not sufficient to cover this area and aircraft carriers were in short supply to allow for shorter range flying. Plans for an Allied invasion of Europe were also underway and it was felt that large floating platforms were needed to assist the assault forces. The Second World War was also a time when many scientists were encouraged to develop weapon technology and other military equipment to assist the war effort. Many projects that were developed were successful, such as the bouncing bomb by Barnes Wallis, midget submarines, mulberry harbours and the Pipe Line Under The Ocean (PLUTO) project. Others were not so successful and some were even incredible.
And so onwards, backwards......................
We in the MRL have seen the deterioration in numbers of Britain's Navy, particularly the miniaturization of the carrier fleets to those of midget ships amongst the giants of the seas,said to be an act of austerity, lacks of funds, or simply because who really wants a ship built by the french(there are limits to what we can ask our sailors to serve on)....we, however, have a solution to this problem
A Project Hubbakuk
Misfortunately, nowadays, Her Majesty's Royal Navy is falling on hard times,
budgets and things, but basicly polite for bankrupt,even yet ghost broke
as even the great Naval ancestors shake their heads and walk away from it all.
However, there is a solution to the crisis, specificly the crisis of being
unable to afford aircraft carriers.The answer is hidden in the records of
Whitehall, secret documents hidden from sight of a project planned to be
undertaken, that of the Project Hubbakuk. Indeed this secret project
involved taking a large arctic ice flow, placing on it refrigeration equipment
to maintain it's integrity, and propulsion equipment to steer it about.
This ice flow was to be used as a floating airfield for Their Majesty's aircraft!
One recalls Hitler having a great fear of the project, most notably telling Churchill
each time Churchill met with him to complain about the goings on in Europe,
"Don't make a big Hubbakuk." All that remains is for the project to be pulled from
the limbo of the hidden war document filing cabinets and undertaken.
Make a great hubbakuk.
Secret Squirrel,
MRL,
Minister For Re-Deranged Re-Engineering.
..................................................
An Olympian Task For Britain.
From the Olympic Charter
Art. 12: Olympic Symbol
1 The Olympic symbol consists of the five Olympic rings used alone, in one or in several colours.
2 The five colours of the rings are mandatorily blue, yellow, black, green and red. The rings are interlaced from left to right. The blue, black and red rings are situated at the top, the yellow and green rings at the bottom. The
whole approximately forms a regular trapezium, the shorter of the parallel sides forming the base, according to the official design deposited at the IOC headquarters and (reproduced) below.
3 The Olympic symbol represents the union of the five continents and the meeting of athletes from throughout the world at the Olympic Games.
I propose to engineer an Olympic Movement in Britain to have Britain declared as a continent, and so have it's own Olympic Ring, the missing Sixth Ring.Presently all Britain is considered to be In-Continent.
It is to be pointed out, that North and South America are considered separate, and continents, yet they are joined, merely severed by the man-made Panama Canal...does this really count then as separate,yet they have a ring each.
Similarly, Africa is not separate from Europe-Asia except by the man-made Suez Canal, which hardly counts, and so three rings represent what really should merely be one.Europe and Asia are not separate at all,but entirely joined, and also as before, joined with Africa as well.
Australia is there large and looming, and entirely by itself and so legitimately has it's own ring.
But all things considered, has Britain not been shunned? Should Britain not have it's own legitimate Olympic Ring.
Logic dictates so. Definitely what with the next Olympics being in Britain, and Britain bearing the ever increasing huge Olympian cost,Britain should get something in return. Britons must take up the cause and petition for our own Olympic Ring! We are a continent, a separate Island continent. Indeed we must cease this intolerant and intolerable Olympic In-Continence which Britain suffers from.
Secret Squirrel,
MRL,
Minister for Re-Deranged Re-Engineering
..............................................................
Floating Ideas
In 1917 and 1918 British builders constructed barges, tugs and fishing boats using concrete. The Americans were more ambitious, commissioning a fleet of 12 ocean-going concrete freighters costing 50 million dollars.
The concrete ships that were built followed the design of steel ships of that era, but required much thicker hulls to get the same amount of strength that the steel gave. A newly-developed form of concrete that included portland cement was used because it was relatively light (Only 120 pounds per cubic foot). Even so, the ships were much heavier than steel ships. The ship builders also found that concrete was much more difficult to manipulate than steel, making the ships more difficult to construct. The oldest known ferro-cement ship was a dingy built by Joseph Louis Lambot in Southern France in the year 1848. The boat was featured in the 1855 World's Fair held in France. An Italian engineer, Carlo Gabellini, built barges and small ships out of ferro-cement in the 1890s.1910s saw the building of several ferro-cement ships in UK. One of these ships, the Violette, was built in 1917 and is currently used as a boating clubhouse on the River Medway in England. This makes her the oldest ferro-cement ship still
afloat.On August 2, 1917, N.K. Fougner of Norway launched the first ocean-going ferro-cement ship, an 84-foot long boat named Namsenfjord. With the success of the ship, several more small ferro-cement vessels were built.World War II led to shortages in steel supply. In 1942, the U.S. government contracted McCloskey & Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to construct a new fleet of 24 cement ships. Construction of the fleet started in July, 1943 in Tampa, Florida. Innovations in cement mixing and composition technology made these ships stronger than the World War I efforts.
Other companies were contracted to build barge ships. These too were large vessels that lacked engines to propel them. Instead, they were used for storage and towed around by other ships.
Some of them were used to transport troops back from Europe at the end of the first World War.
Well now, here's a concrete idea, Britain has lost it's shipyards to the high costs of construction of ships, requiring welders,riveter etc etc etc, and high unit costs of steels and their manufacture. Britain could once again reestablish itself as a world leading shipbuilder, a true model of a shipbuilding mold in the world. Yes, reinstate an already sound, tried and true method of building ships,out of concrete! A truly concrete idea which the M.R.L. must encourage be resurrected!!
There is yet another idea, which was said to have been tried, and had varying success, vessels,particularly in this instance, aircraft carriers, made out of pykrete.
Pykrete is a composite material made of approximately 14% sawdust (or, less frequently, wood pulp) and 86% ice by
weight, invented by Max Perutz and proposed during World War II by Geoffrey Pyke to the Royal Navy as a candidate material for making a huge, unsinkable aircraft carrier, Project Habbakuk, actually more of a floating island than a
ship in the traditional sense. Pykrete has some interesting properties, notably its relatively slow melting rate (due to low thermal conductivity), and its vastly improved strength and toughness over pure ice, actually closer to
concrete. Pykrete is slightly harder to form than concrete, as it expands while freezing, but can be repaired and maintained from the sea's most abundant raw material.However, I have delved further in to this and have discovered
that tests on the material have actually revealed a 50% longer lifespan than ordinary ice, and one which can further be enhanced by suitable refrigeration equipments. Indeed the vessel constructions could easily be funded out of the
many political slush funds which abound nowadays.However there is substantial possibilities of crews catching colds easily,getting rheumatism, hemarroids from sitting on the ice too long etc etc etc, and so in a sound engineering
decision I am favoring further research in the matter, but going with the sure concrete proposal.
Secret Squirrel,
M.R.L.
Minister for Re-Deranged Re-Engineering.
*****************************************************
M.R.L. Birmingham Transportation Modernization
The city of Birmingham has been selected for transportation upgrade
and modernization. Clearly the city is ideal for such a futuristic
project, being the juncture of not one, but several canals.
Indeed what is proposed is an engineering project which will solve
all of the problem encountered here in modern times, problems such
as highly annoying massive transportation gridlock encountered in
city centers. Also it will solve the problem of those who own
vehicle in the first place, eliminating the high cost of gasoline
in the all together,and pleasing the Greens in that we shall
eliminate ninety nine percent of pollution problems involving
vehicles. What is proposed in bringing Birmingham in to the future,
we shall follow the wisdoms of those of the Southeast asian
countries and the City Of Venice, we shall eliminate the roadways
within the city, just the roadways, and replace them with shallow
canals all throughout! Of course the canals will have at corners
walkways crossing the canal allowing for walking and bicycling.
One may also use the roadway canals for transportation of goods
and services by application of punts,rowboats, and small barges.
Indeed this will eliminate all traffic problems involving vehicles,
eliminate their pollutions, and also will solve the problem
of dependence on foreign fuels. Imagine, we can also take things
further with more canals eventually linking all of these new
canal cities!What fear I the high cost of vehicles and gasolines!
Nay what's necessary for today's politicians is a jolly good
paddling!!!!!!
Secret Squirrel,
M.R.L.
Minister for Re-Deranged Re-Engineering
**************************************************************
For Whom The Bridge Tolls
A group of American and (to our shame)British engineers have studied the feasibility of
building a bridge (A structure that allows people or vehicles to cross an obstacle such as a
river or canal or railway etc.)to span the straits of Gibralter. Such a bridge would be of a
combination suspension-truss design and would dwarf any existing bridge in height (over 3000
feet) and length (15 km). Of course the depth of the strait reaches 300m.
Now why not then build a bridge spanning the English Channel at Dover, which would be much,much
easier, the channel at Dover being a maximum of 180feet, or 55m deep, and the width being
18 miles, or 30km. True the bridge would be longer, but the depth of the required support
pillars would be much,much less.What could also be done,is construct the bridge relatively
low to the water and at a central portion construct a lift bridge portion. Now since most of
the shipping traffic in the channel, except that going directly across, is of a most foul and
foreign nature, we propose that said lift bridge portion would only be raised to allow
a ship to pass, should the ship pay a toll. The idea is perfectly sound and a grand way of
revenue, for example we have toll roads in England(Europeans aren't required to pay tolls on
their roads they not needing the income and inconvenience,this would level the economic
playing field), also the Suez Canal generates revenues for the Arabs, and the Panama Canal
generates revenues for the Central Americans. Indeed Britain already has toll bridges
so the Europeans would just have to equally accept our toll bridge.
Now, it has been suggested that drunken French captains, and drunken German captains, might,
in their rage, ram the bridge in an effort to put and end to it.Well we can take this in to
account and can deal with those efforts as well. Indeed, Britain built in the colony of
Canada, the Canso Causeway, linking an insignificant island to mainland Canada colony,
and it is 1,305m long, and has a depth of 65m. So we are dealing with much shorter length,
and much less depth. Our causeway would be constructed of rock fill and so be impervious to
the drunken rage attacks of irate foreign vessels. Of course, in the center, we would
have our Lift Bridge, and, of course, tool booth. The captains would have to row over to the
booth, pay the toll, and then the bridge would be lifted and they would be allowed to pass.
All that remains is for government to take up this great revenue generating cause and so
benefit the people of Britain with a toll levied not on them, but on the foreigners.
As an added plus, we might just include a roadway, or perhaps a railway line as well
to allow goods and tourists to pass between Britain and Europe, paying again a suitable
toll as well, as they are already forced to do when taking the Chunnel, or riding a
ferry(no comment here) across at the present time. Of course, we in the M.R.L., could
exempt Britons from having to pay a toll, so thus it would be for the foreigners for whom
the bridge tolls.
Secret Squirrel
M.R.L.
Minister for Re-Deranged Re-Engineering
****************************************************************************
The Great Wall Of Garbage
Whilst touring America, I visited Mannanos(Algonquin for Place of Intoxification),
eventually renamed Manhattan, and suitably imbibing refreshments of the same name in
keeping with the custom of the place, we came to discussing America's massive present
problem which it cannot control properly(one of many it seems), namely that of the
inability to keep thousands upon thousands, hundreds of thousands, and quite probably
millions, of illegal immigrants from swarming across America's undefended,indefensible and
unguarded borders(strangely the Canadian ones they simply send back..........perhaps
they're imbeciles or something). In either case, the illegal immigrants are regarded as
undesirables, undesirable aliens or some such, by most Americans and there is a desire to
keep them out(at least that much).Pondering that perhaps the American government wishes to
keep them out as well, I have formulated an idea which will help both Britain and America.
Indeed Britain will solve an ever increasing problem which will not go away, and will make
a handsome profit as well, whilst at the same time we will help the Americans guard their
borders better and make their illegal immigrant problem go away.
What I proposed is that we,in Britain, will take our garbage, and compact it in to neat
blocks.We will then form a government company such that the people of Britain all profit,
and the company will then employ, in America, at cheap rate as the Americans do, the illegal
Mexican immigrants. At the same time the Americans will supply them with such medicare
and social services as they already receive so that this will cost the company nothing.
In either case we will then employ them in the task of piling the blocks, deep and high,
such that the American border is the sealed off by The Great Wall Of Garbage, and so the
illegal immigrant problem will be dealt with,and Britain's great garbage problem will also be dealt with. Should we run out of garbage in the course of the project, we can simply
offer to take Europe's garbage away for free and employ that.This project has the poetic
justice of the illegal immigrants helping keep out illegal immigrants, and at the same time
supplying extremely cheap labor, and adding to America's employment figures,and, we in Britain, will get rid of all of our garbage, selling it to...the Americans.
However, at times the American government does object to some employing these illegal
immigrants in America, especially in such a sensitive project, and should it object to itself
employing them we can simply alter our strategy and go with a simpler and even yet cheaper
one.
No matter with neat garbage blocks, we will simply dump the garbage along the border,
in ever increasing piles, and use cheap,paid for, U.S. Army soldiers to work bulldozers,
to see to it that the job is done correctly and to the satisfaction of the U.S. government,
to build a huge mountain range of garbage all along the border. This is the far cheaper
alternative and I suggest we go with this project.Again if we run out, we can offer to
take Europe's garbage away for free and sell it to the Americans.And politically, it can and could be said, that we could now get the Americans to take garbage from us!!!!!!!!
A jolly good engineering show all round.
Secret Squirrel,
M.R.L.
Minster of Re-Deranged Re-Engineering.
*******************************************************************
M.R.L. Farming Policy
Once again, out here on the hustings, it is time to expound my highly superior farming policy,
one which will without a doubt please our farmers, presently in a farming crisis of having to work so very hard
for so very little recompense, in the efforts of the British government to feed the French cheaply. Rather
I propose a method by which our farmers will work very little, if at all, and receive grand
recompense and live the good and proper farming life as was meant to be. Now ever onwards with
my policy....................
and do kindly remember me at election time, and suitably enter me as your write-in election selection,
in any and all constituancies wherein there is no M.R.L. candidate......................
One of the problems facing Britain today, is the crisis in farming, farmers feeling they're just not
getting enough profit for the hard work they put in to growing produce,
whilst others make massive profits and live the high life of not working etc. off of them.
Food,vegetables etc., cost to grow, costs time and effort in planting, costs for machinery to prepare the
field, to plant, to maintain, to cultivate,costs for the necessary farm machinery and maintaining such
machinery. Top it all off, the vast majority of the produce is sold to the Europeans, by the government,
and there sold to their people there, cheaply. Well traveling here in the colony of Canada,aptly named
so as the Germans refer to this location as being a hinter land. Here, in the area known as Quebec,
(translated from the French as "What A Beak"), I have discovered the secret to farming techniques which
require very little effort from the farmers.
Indeed I was intrigued when I heard that a Registered Head Nurse,
had given up her career as a nurse, for the evidently much more lucrative occupation of farming, in short
she became what they call a fermier.But why? Why ever would she do that? So I journeyed out to the farmlands,
to visit her...............err........study farming techniques. Well longer story short, It seems that there, there's profit in it,if you're a fermier all round.
Yes! There's actually great profit in it. Indeed farming in the Quebec area of that colony, and quite probably
thence all over the colony as there must be equality in policy all round there even yet though it is a third world area.
All that it really requires to farm profitably there is a farm,an area of the usual size, but there the farming
techniques diverge from those of Britain.
Indeed, the farm requires only a few heaps of what seem to be abandoned equipments of various
questionable nature, rusted and so for, dilapidated, which are called farm machinery, but which in Britain pass
for a machine on the scrap heap due to be hauled off. Said fermier merely sits on the land,squats as it were , in the farm house,
much as do squatters, but lives very much better, high on the hog(of which we never see any). On the farm itself,
there is much scrub to say the least, and grass of various heights, and there they grow............errr...............sit.....
the crops, the REAL crops..............................rocks.
Yes! Rocks! They farm rocks! For being possessed of said farm, the fermiers are paid by the
government,much as living off of the dole, there, or here, but certainly getting far more such doled out to them
than there, and here for that matter, and all requiring no effort at all in the actual necessity of farming,
rocks, or otherwise, as they'll take care of themselves. Indeed there's yet more, fermiers have the ability
to increase their comfortable dole levels, by participating in certain government projects, that of NOT growing
certain things. For example, they can be paid NOT to grow wheat, or for that matter other crops. So their
land is divided in to certain fields, those not growing wheat,those not growing asparagus etc, and all the
while they can still cultivate the rocks, getting the currency for NOT growing certain crops as an added
extra. Of course, such a farm requires NO maintenance, no machinery costs of any kind(merely requires the
scrap heap with wheels in it). Now there's the solution to our farmers problems, merely adopting the farming
practice so very common to that very foreign colony!And so too, now, as shown by the fermier, our new applied
foreign farming techniques will turn farming in to a Jolly Good Show!!!!!
Carry On Farming!
M.R.L.
Secret Squirrel.
M.R.L. Monetary Policies
*********************************************************************
M.R.L. Food,Produce and Meat Pricing Policies.
Of course, in my campaign, by write in vote, in any constituency wherein
is lacking an M.R.L. candidate, continues ever onwards in an effort to
bring the British people to their senses, and bring them to a better government,
and M.R.L. government, the only government which makes sense.
I would, of course, appreciate your vote.
Indeed I do consider myself much more suitable as a candidate as opposed
to my rather laggardly opponents.Take note of my many engineering proposals
as already presented to you, take note of their technologically advanced natures, taking in to
account both modern and ancient technology, combining the best of both worlds
past and present, to build a better future for the British people.
I have presented those to you, I have presented my social policies as well,
and now, as my opponents have sneered and stated I've not policies which
will reduce costs of such, commonly regarded(by them) as common commodities,
commodities such as foods. Here I sneer back, and expose their
unsuitable policies which have led to a system by which the British people pay
far too much for their own produce, for their own meats.Whereas THEY have no
solution to the problem, I most certainly do, this problem can easily be rectified,
and so, if elected..................
Regard now the dismally high prices we are paying for our fine British produce
in groceries, for our fine British meats, in meat stores, and we gaze across the Channel
and see the French paying far,far less, and indeed for our own exported British produce
and meats,produce and meats exported by our government, provided to the French people
at far less cost than supplied to the British people, British groceries et cetera.
There is a cure for this.
Take note that the French Franc is by far of less
value than the British pound. Take note now of the price of said exported produce in
France, valued at the level of the French Franc, even against the value,converted, of the
Euro. Now, having had a kidney stone, I became interested in the study of the
Euro, Eurology as it were. I noticed the value of the British pound against the Euro,
we get more Euros for the British pound than do the French,since our currency is better,
expressly, frankly speaking, we get more Francs to the frenchman.
So what we do, that is we in government,should we get there is Use our British pound to buy Euros which are dropping against the pound, having first
sold the produce to the French, what we then do, is buy the produce back from the French at the
vastly reduced French Franc/Euro prices, and then supply that to the British groceries and meat
stores at equated reduced prices, which they in turn can now supply to the British people at
vastly reduced prices!A grand saving all round for the British people!!
Savings all round, inexpensive food for all!! And..........................have the Frenchmen pay for it.
Huzzah!Huzzah!Huzzah!
M.R.L.
Secret Squirrel
Minister For Re-Deranged Re-Engineering.
********************************************************************
intelligent,weapons,war,habakkuk,aircraft,carrier,ice,olympics,rings,ships,cement,transportation,floods,canals,bridge,wall,garbage,disposal,farming
Secret Squirrel, of the MRL,Monster Raving Loony Party, his hopes,his dreams,his plans,his engineering designs,his plans for the national defense,plans in the food and farming sector,his financial plans for the good and the betterment of the people of England, Britain, and the World.....what's good for secret Squirrel is good for you, and everything he plans is good for you.......he has good intentions, remember, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
M.R.L. Manned Intelligent Weapons Delivery System
In view of recent austerity measures taken with respect to the armed forces, I have turned my attention to attempting to alleviate the problem somewhat. Here we see a development of my manned intelligent weapons delivery system. What we do is utilize the intelligence, of man, in this case,the airman, Basically he's suspended by a detachable harness to the wing ordinance pylon, in short, he's the actual delivery system...........much cheaper than missile development.
The Japanese were the first developing an intelligent guidance system for aircraft bombs,however, theirs were of the expendable variety, the so called Kamakazi,who were expended along with the bomb delivery vehicle.It was known as a Baka bomb system,as well, which is Japanese for Idiot Bomb,which they had to be to take such a job. Their system failed basically in the delivery,many times, basically due to the lack of intelligence for those who signed up for that particular job,and also in the fact that their intelligent airman expired when so employed.This was and is considered to be highly detrimental in future recruitment.
Ours is an offshoot of the first system,however, no harm actually comes to the airman,which no doubt will please British airmen, and also increase recruitment. In our system, the British airman is re-loadable and reusable.Note the extreme flexibility this system offers, along with the abilities to intelligently direct and deliver fire towards the enemy with a multitude of weapons available to be used. Here the airman is shown holding a simple automatic pistol,such as one sees used to such great effect in U.S. schools. Of course said stated automatic pistol could be replaced by an automatic rifle, or say fully automatic machine gun. The system could also use and carry and drop grenades intelligently on target,properly aimed. Further flexibility is available through the airman equipped use of an R.P.G. type of weapon.
Of course what with recent remarks made by Air Vice Marshall "Kamakazi" Walker,obviously deeply influenced by the Japanese Kamakazi Corps, has mentioned the possibility of suicide missions being flown against Taliban or other terror groups,by our present British air forces. He's obviously also seen the ridiculous unintelligent side of intelligent bombs and delivery systems etc, but has gone a touch Baka suggesting that the airman should intelligently guide the bombs to the target, and then see to it,personally,that the bomb etc crashes in to it's target,dashing themselves to pieces. One assumes that should government not be in our hands, and our system developed,that the Air Vice Marshall might order the weapons carrier airman also dropped on an enemy target,misfortunately. Of course, as the system development experiments continue and the system takes form to a fully operational working intelligent weapons system, one hopes that by then the M.R.L. would have achieved government, and so too, no doubt does our weapons system itself.
Secret Squirrel,
M.R.L.
Minister For Re-Deranged Re-Engineering.
.....................................
MRL Revives The Secretly Abandoned Project Habakkuk
Project Habakkuk
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Habakkuk
Project Habakkuk or Habbakuk (spelling varies; see below) was a plan by the British in World War II to construct an aircraft carrier out of pykrete (a mixture of wood pulp and ice), for use against German U-boats in the mid-Atlantic, which was out of range of land-based planes.
And .......................
http://www.royalnavalmuseum.org/info_sheets_Habbakkuk.htm
The Habbakuk Project
HABBAKUK: GEOFFREY PYKE'S ICEBERG AIRCRAFT CARRIER
In 1942, the Allied forces were losing a considerable amount of merchant shipping in the Atlantic Ocean, due to German submarine forces and the lack of adequate air cover in the mid-Atlantic. The range of operating aircraft was not sufficient to cover this area and aircraft carriers were in short supply to allow for shorter range flying. Plans for an Allied invasion of Europe were also underway and it was felt that large floating platforms were needed to assist the assault forces. The Second World War was also a time when many scientists were encouraged to develop weapon technology and other military equipment to assist the war effort. Many projects that were developed were successful, such as the bouncing bomb by Barnes Wallis, midget submarines, mulberry harbours and the Pipe Line Under The Ocean (PLUTO) project. Others were not so successful and some were even incredible.
And so onwards, backwards......................
We in the MRL have seen the deterioration in numbers of Britain's Navy, particularly the miniaturization of the carrier fleets to those of midget ships amongst the giants of the seas,said to be an act of austerity, lacks of funds, or simply because who really wants a ship built by the french(there are limits to what we can ask our sailors to serve on)....we, however, have a solution to this problem
A Project Hubbakuk
Misfortunately, nowadays, Her Majesty's Royal Navy is falling on hard times,
budgets and things, but basicly polite for bankrupt,even yet ghost broke
as even the great Naval ancestors shake their heads and walk away from it all.
However, there is a solution to the crisis, specificly the crisis of being
unable to afford aircraft carriers.The answer is hidden in the records of
Whitehall, secret documents hidden from sight of a project planned to be
undertaken, that of the Project Hubbakuk. Indeed this secret project
involved taking a large arctic ice flow, placing on it refrigeration equipment
to maintain it's integrity, and propulsion equipment to steer it about.
This ice flow was to be used as a floating airfield for Their Majesty's aircraft!
One recalls Hitler having a great fear of the project, most notably telling Churchill
each time Churchill met with him to complain about the goings on in Europe,
"Don't make a big Hubbakuk." All that remains is for the project to be pulled from
the limbo of the hidden war document filing cabinets and undertaken.
Make a great hubbakuk.
Secret Squirrel,
MRL,
Minister For Re-Deranged Re-Engineering.
..................................................
An Olympian Task For Britain.
From the Olympic Charter
Art. 12: Olympic Symbol
1 The Olympic symbol consists of the five Olympic rings used alone, in one or in several colours.
2 The five colours of the rings are mandatorily blue, yellow, black, green and red. The rings are interlaced from left to right. The blue, black and red rings are situated at the top, the yellow and green rings at the bottom. The
whole approximately forms a regular trapezium, the shorter of the parallel sides forming the base, according to the official design deposited at the IOC headquarters and (reproduced) below.
3 The Olympic symbol represents the union of the five continents and the meeting of athletes from throughout the world at the Olympic Games.
I propose to engineer an Olympic Movement in Britain to have Britain declared as a continent, and so have it's own Olympic Ring, the missing Sixth Ring.Presently all Britain is considered to be In-Continent.
It is to be pointed out, that North and South America are considered separate, and continents, yet they are joined, merely severed by the man-made Panama Canal...does this really count then as separate,yet they have a ring each.
Similarly, Africa is not separate from Europe-Asia except by the man-made Suez Canal, which hardly counts, and so three rings represent what really should merely be one.Europe and Asia are not separate at all,but entirely joined, and also as before, joined with Africa as well.
Australia is there large and looming, and entirely by itself and so legitimately has it's own ring.
But all things considered, has Britain not been shunned? Should Britain not have it's own legitimate Olympic Ring.
Logic dictates so. Definitely what with the next Olympics being in Britain, and Britain bearing the ever increasing huge Olympian cost,Britain should get something in return. Britons must take up the cause and petition for our own Olympic Ring! We are a continent, a separate Island continent. Indeed we must cease this intolerant and intolerable Olympic In-Continence which Britain suffers from.
Secret Squirrel,
MRL,
Minister for Re-Deranged Re-Engineering
..............................................................
Floating Ideas
In 1917 and 1918 British builders constructed barges, tugs and fishing boats using concrete. The Americans were more ambitious, commissioning a fleet of 12 ocean-going concrete freighters costing 50 million dollars.
The concrete ships that were built followed the design of steel ships of that era, but required much thicker hulls to get the same amount of strength that the steel gave. A newly-developed form of concrete that included portland cement was used because it was relatively light (Only 120 pounds per cubic foot). Even so, the ships were much heavier than steel ships. The ship builders also found that concrete was much more difficult to manipulate than steel, making the ships more difficult to construct. The oldest known ferro-cement ship was a dingy built by Joseph Louis Lambot in Southern France in the year 1848. The boat was featured in the 1855 World's Fair held in France. An Italian engineer, Carlo Gabellini, built barges and small ships out of ferro-cement in the 1890s.1910s saw the building of several ferro-cement ships in UK. One of these ships, the Violette, was built in 1917 and is currently used as a boating clubhouse on the River Medway in England. This makes her the oldest ferro-cement ship still
afloat.On August 2, 1917, N.K. Fougner of Norway launched the first ocean-going ferro-cement ship, an 84-foot long boat named Namsenfjord. With the success of the ship, several more small ferro-cement vessels were built.World War II led to shortages in steel supply. In 1942, the U.S. government contracted McCloskey & Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to construct a new fleet of 24 cement ships. Construction of the fleet started in July, 1943 in Tampa, Florida. Innovations in cement mixing and composition technology made these ships stronger than the World War I efforts.
Other companies were contracted to build barge ships. These too were large vessels that lacked engines to propel them. Instead, they were used for storage and towed around by other ships.
Some of them were used to transport troops back from Europe at the end of the first World War.
Well now, here's a concrete idea, Britain has lost it's shipyards to the high costs of construction of ships, requiring welders,riveter etc etc etc, and high unit costs of steels and their manufacture. Britain could once again reestablish itself as a world leading shipbuilder, a true model of a shipbuilding mold in the world. Yes, reinstate an already sound, tried and true method of building ships,out of concrete! A truly concrete idea which the M.R.L. must encourage be resurrected!!
There is yet another idea, which was said to have been tried, and had varying success, vessels,particularly in this instance, aircraft carriers, made out of pykrete.
Pykrete is a composite material made of approximately 14% sawdust (or, less frequently, wood pulp) and 86% ice by
weight, invented by Max Perutz and proposed during World War II by Geoffrey Pyke to the Royal Navy as a candidate material for making a huge, unsinkable aircraft carrier, Project Habbakuk, actually more of a floating island than a
ship in the traditional sense. Pykrete has some interesting properties, notably its relatively slow melting rate (due to low thermal conductivity), and its vastly improved strength and toughness over pure ice, actually closer to
concrete. Pykrete is slightly harder to form than concrete, as it expands while freezing, but can be repaired and maintained from the sea's most abundant raw material.However, I have delved further in to this and have discovered
that tests on the material have actually revealed a 50% longer lifespan than ordinary ice, and one which can further be enhanced by suitable refrigeration equipments. Indeed the vessel constructions could easily be funded out of the
many political slush funds which abound nowadays.However there is substantial possibilities of crews catching colds easily,getting rheumatism, hemarroids from sitting on the ice too long etc etc etc, and so in a sound engineering
decision I am favoring further research in the matter, but going with the sure concrete proposal.
Secret Squirrel,
M.R.L.
Minister for Re-Deranged Re-Engineering.
*****************************************************
M.R.L. Birmingham Transportation Modernization
The city of Birmingham has been selected for transportation upgrade
and modernization. Clearly the city is ideal for such a futuristic
project, being the juncture of not one, but several canals.
Indeed what is proposed is an engineering project which will solve
all of the problem encountered here in modern times, problems such
as highly annoying massive transportation gridlock encountered in
city centers. Also it will solve the problem of those who own
vehicle in the first place, eliminating the high cost of gasoline
in the all together,and pleasing the Greens in that we shall
eliminate ninety nine percent of pollution problems involving
vehicles. What is proposed in bringing Birmingham in to the future,
we shall follow the wisdoms of those of the Southeast asian
countries and the City Of Venice, we shall eliminate the roadways
within the city, just the roadways, and replace them with shallow
canals all throughout! Of course the canals will have at corners
walkways crossing the canal allowing for walking and bicycling.
One may also use the roadway canals for transportation of goods
and services by application of punts,rowboats, and small barges.
Indeed this will eliminate all traffic problems involving vehicles,
eliminate their pollutions, and also will solve the problem
of dependence on foreign fuels. Imagine, we can also take things
further with more canals eventually linking all of these new
canal cities!What fear I the high cost of vehicles and gasolines!
Nay what's necessary for today's politicians is a jolly good
paddling!!!!!!
Secret Squirrel,
M.R.L.
Minister for Re-Deranged Re-Engineering
**************************************************************
For Whom The Bridge Tolls
A group of American and (to our shame)British engineers have studied the feasibility of
building a bridge (A structure that allows people or vehicles to cross an obstacle such as a
river or canal or railway etc.)to span the straits of Gibralter. Such a bridge would be of a
combination suspension-truss design and would dwarf any existing bridge in height (over 3000
feet) and length (15 km). Of course the depth of the strait reaches 300m.
Now why not then build a bridge spanning the English Channel at Dover, which would be much,much
easier, the channel at Dover being a maximum of 180feet, or 55m deep, and the width being
18 miles, or 30km. True the bridge would be longer, but the depth of the required support
pillars would be much,much less.What could also be done,is construct the bridge relatively
low to the water and at a central portion construct a lift bridge portion. Now since most of
the shipping traffic in the channel, except that going directly across, is of a most foul and
foreign nature, we propose that said lift bridge portion would only be raised to allow
a ship to pass, should the ship pay a toll. The idea is perfectly sound and a grand way of
revenue, for example we have toll roads in England(Europeans aren't required to pay tolls on
their roads they not needing the income and inconvenience,this would level the economic
playing field), also the Suez Canal generates revenues for the Arabs, and the Panama Canal
generates revenues for the Central Americans. Indeed Britain already has toll bridges
so the Europeans would just have to equally accept our toll bridge.
Now, it has been suggested that drunken French captains, and drunken German captains, might,
in their rage, ram the bridge in an effort to put and end to it.Well we can take this in to
account and can deal with those efforts as well. Indeed, Britain built in the colony of
Canada, the Canso Causeway, linking an insignificant island to mainland Canada colony,
and it is 1,305m long, and has a depth of 65m. So we are dealing with much shorter length,
and much less depth. Our causeway would be constructed of rock fill and so be impervious to
the drunken rage attacks of irate foreign vessels. Of course, in the center, we would
have our Lift Bridge, and, of course, tool booth. The captains would have to row over to the
booth, pay the toll, and then the bridge would be lifted and they would be allowed to pass.
All that remains is for government to take up this great revenue generating cause and so
benefit the people of Britain with a toll levied not on them, but on the foreigners.
As an added plus, we might just include a roadway, or perhaps a railway line as well
to allow goods and tourists to pass between Britain and Europe, paying again a suitable
toll as well, as they are already forced to do when taking the Chunnel, or riding a
ferry(no comment here) across at the present time. Of course, we in the M.R.L., could
exempt Britons from having to pay a toll, so thus it would be for the foreigners for whom
the bridge tolls.
Secret Squirrel
M.R.L.
Minister for Re-Deranged Re-Engineering
****************************************************************************
The Great Wall Of Garbage
Whilst touring America, I visited Mannanos(Algonquin for Place of Intoxification),
eventually renamed Manhattan, and suitably imbibing refreshments of the same name in
keeping with the custom of the place, we came to discussing America's massive present
problem which it cannot control properly(one of many it seems), namely that of the
inability to keep thousands upon thousands, hundreds of thousands, and quite probably
millions, of illegal immigrants from swarming across America's undefended,indefensible and
unguarded borders(strangely the Canadian ones they simply send back..........perhaps
they're imbeciles or something). In either case, the illegal immigrants are regarded as
undesirables, undesirable aliens or some such, by most Americans and there is a desire to
keep them out(at least that much).Pondering that perhaps the American government wishes to
keep them out as well, I have formulated an idea which will help both Britain and America.
Indeed Britain will solve an ever increasing problem which will not go away, and will make
a handsome profit as well, whilst at the same time we will help the Americans guard their
borders better and make their illegal immigrant problem go away.
What I proposed is that we,in Britain, will take our garbage, and compact it in to neat
blocks.We will then form a government company such that the people of Britain all profit,
and the company will then employ, in America, at cheap rate as the Americans do, the illegal
Mexican immigrants. At the same time the Americans will supply them with such medicare
and social services as they already receive so that this will cost the company nothing.
In either case we will then employ them in the task of piling the blocks, deep and high,
such that the American border is the sealed off by The Great Wall Of Garbage, and so the
illegal immigrant problem will be dealt with,and Britain's great garbage problem will also be dealt with. Should we run out of garbage in the course of the project, we can simply
offer to take Europe's garbage away for free and employ that.This project has the poetic
justice of the illegal immigrants helping keep out illegal immigrants, and at the same time
supplying extremely cheap labor, and adding to America's employment figures,and, we in Britain, will get rid of all of our garbage, selling it to...the Americans.
However, at times the American government does object to some employing these illegal
immigrants in America, especially in such a sensitive project, and should it object to itself
employing them we can simply alter our strategy and go with a simpler and even yet cheaper
one.
No matter with neat garbage blocks, we will simply dump the garbage along the border,
in ever increasing piles, and use cheap,paid for, U.S. Army soldiers to work bulldozers,
to see to it that the job is done correctly and to the satisfaction of the U.S. government,
to build a huge mountain range of garbage all along the border. This is the far cheaper
alternative and I suggest we go with this project.Again if we run out, we can offer to
take Europe's garbage away for free and sell it to the Americans.And politically, it can and could be said, that we could now get the Americans to take garbage from us!!!!!!!!
A jolly good engineering show all round.
Secret Squirrel,
M.R.L.
Minster of Re-Deranged Re-Engineering.
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M.R.L. Farming Policy
Once again, out here on the hustings, it is time to expound my highly superior farming policy,
one which will without a doubt please our farmers, presently in a farming crisis of having to work so very hard
for so very little recompense, in the efforts of the British government to feed the French cheaply. Rather
I propose a method by which our farmers will work very little, if at all, and receive grand
recompense and live the good and proper farming life as was meant to be. Now ever onwards with
my policy....................
and do kindly remember me at election time, and suitably enter me as your write-in election selection,
in any and all constituancies wherein there is no M.R.L. candidate......................
One of the problems facing Britain today, is the crisis in farming, farmers feeling they're just not
getting enough profit for the hard work they put in to growing produce,
whilst others make massive profits and live the high life of not working etc. off of them.
Food,vegetables etc., cost to grow, costs time and effort in planting, costs for machinery to prepare the
field, to plant, to maintain, to cultivate,costs for the necessary farm machinery and maintaining such
machinery. Top it all off, the vast majority of the produce is sold to the Europeans, by the government,
and there sold to their people there, cheaply. Well traveling here in the colony of Canada,aptly named
so as the Germans refer to this location as being a hinter land. Here, in the area known as Quebec,
(translated from the French as "What A Beak"), I have discovered the secret to farming techniques which
require very little effort from the farmers.
Indeed I was intrigued when I heard that a Registered Head Nurse,
had given up her career as a nurse, for the evidently much more lucrative occupation of farming, in short
she became what they call a fermier.But why? Why ever would she do that? So I journeyed out to the farmlands,
to visit her...............err........study farming techniques. Well longer story short, It seems that there, there's profit in it,if you're a fermier all round.
Yes! There's actually great profit in it. Indeed farming in the Quebec area of that colony, and quite probably
thence all over the colony as there must be equality in policy all round there even yet though it is a third world area.
All that it really requires to farm profitably there is a farm,an area of the usual size, but there the farming
techniques diverge from those of Britain.
Indeed, the farm requires only a few heaps of what seem to be abandoned equipments of various
questionable nature, rusted and so for, dilapidated, which are called farm machinery, but which in Britain pass
for a machine on the scrap heap due to be hauled off. Said fermier merely sits on the land,squats as it were , in the farm house,
much as do squatters, but lives very much better, high on the hog(of which we never see any). On the farm itself,
there is much scrub to say the least, and grass of various heights, and there they grow............errr...............sit.....
the crops, the REAL crops..............................rocks.
Yes! Rocks! They farm rocks! For being possessed of said farm, the fermiers are paid by the
government,much as living off of the dole, there, or here, but certainly getting far more such doled out to them
than there, and here for that matter, and all requiring no effort at all in the actual necessity of farming,
rocks, or otherwise, as they'll take care of themselves. Indeed there's yet more, fermiers have the ability
to increase their comfortable dole levels, by participating in certain government projects, that of NOT growing
certain things. For example, they can be paid NOT to grow wheat, or for that matter other crops. So their
land is divided in to certain fields, those not growing wheat,those not growing asparagus etc, and all the
while they can still cultivate the rocks, getting the currency for NOT growing certain crops as an added
extra. Of course, such a farm requires NO maintenance, no machinery costs of any kind(merely requires the
scrap heap with wheels in it). Now there's the solution to our farmers problems, merely adopting the farming
practice so very common to that very foreign colony!And so too, now, as shown by the fermier, our new applied
foreign farming techniques will turn farming in to a Jolly Good Show!!!!!
Carry On Farming!
M.R.L.
Secret Squirrel.
M.R.L. Monetary Policies
*********************************************************************
M.R.L. Food,Produce and Meat Pricing Policies.
Of course, in my campaign, by write in vote, in any constituency wherein
is lacking an M.R.L. candidate, continues ever onwards in an effort to
bring the British people to their senses, and bring them to a better government,
and M.R.L. government, the only government which makes sense.
I would, of course, appreciate your vote.
Indeed I do consider myself much more suitable as a candidate as opposed
to my rather laggardly opponents.Take note of my many engineering proposals
as already presented to you, take note of their technologically advanced natures, taking in to
account both modern and ancient technology, combining the best of both worlds
past and present, to build a better future for the British people.
I have presented those to you, I have presented my social policies as well,
and now, as my opponents have sneered and stated I've not policies which
will reduce costs of such, commonly regarded(by them) as common commodities,
commodities such as foods. Here I sneer back, and expose their
unsuitable policies which have led to a system by which the British people pay
far too much for their own produce, for their own meats.Whereas THEY have no
solution to the problem, I most certainly do, this problem can easily be rectified,
and so, if elected..................
Regard now the dismally high prices we are paying for our fine British produce
in groceries, for our fine British meats, in meat stores, and we gaze across the Channel
and see the French paying far,far less, and indeed for our own exported British produce
and meats,produce and meats exported by our government, provided to the French people
at far less cost than supplied to the British people, British groceries et cetera.
There is a cure for this.
Take note that the French Franc is by far of less
value than the British pound. Take note now of the price of said exported produce in
France, valued at the level of the French Franc, even against the value,converted, of the
Euro. Now, having had a kidney stone, I became interested in the study of the
Euro, Eurology as it were. I noticed the value of the British pound against the Euro,
we get more Euros for the British pound than do the French,since our currency is better,
expressly, frankly speaking, we get more Francs to the frenchman.
So what we do, that is we in government,should we get there is Use our British pound to buy Euros which are dropping against the pound, having first
sold the produce to the French, what we then do, is buy the produce back from the French at the
vastly reduced French Franc/Euro prices, and then supply that to the British groceries and meat
stores at equated reduced prices, which they in turn can now supply to the British people at
vastly reduced prices!A grand saving all round for the British people!!
Savings all round, inexpensive food for all!! And..........................have the Frenchmen pay for it.
Huzzah!Huzzah!Huzzah!
M.R.L.
Secret Squirrel
Minister For Re-Deranged Re-Engineering.
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