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The sinking of ARA General Belgrano, 44 years on.

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Forty-four years ago today, the Royal Nayy submarine HMS Conqueror sank the Argentinian cruiser ARA General Belgrano. In almost no other country in the world, as she herself observed, could a government face lasting criticism for an operation during a military conflict which removed a major enemy unit with no casualties on our own side and made it significantly easier to win that conflict. However, the then Prime Minister of Great Britain, Mrs Thatcher, faced years of criticism about the attack, her motives for allowing the sinking, and whether she had told the truth about it.  It has now been proven beyond reasonable doubt that her motive was indeed to protect the men and women of our armed forces. I suspect that her accusers genuinely thought the charges they were making against her were justified. However, given what we now know following the declassification under the 30-year rule of documents about the decision, I don't see that the case stands up either that Mrs Thatcher...
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May Day music spot: "Now is the month of Maying"

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Joke of the week

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Classic Book Review: "Honor among Enemies" by David Weber (Honorverse 6)

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THE Q-SHIP BOOK! The Q-ship - a merchant ship with a navy crew and hidden weapons, designed to ambush submarines which surfaced to sink the "helpless" ship with gunfire - was one of the more heroic and less successful ideas attempted by the Royal Navy during the course of two world wars in the attempt to stop German submarines preying on allied merchant ships. For some reason many of the he creators of science fiction space warfare games and authors of Space Opera novels seem obsessed with using this concept in their games and books. In real history, although the Q-ships did succeed in sinking a few German U-boats they also got plenty of our own brave men killed. Perhaps the most realistic thing about this Q-ship novel is that the heroine is offered command of a squadron of Q-ships not by her friends but through the political machinations of her worst enemies, who have spotted a need for a force commanded by an officer who is both highly skilled in battle, and expendable. The...
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Trailer for Star Trek "Strange New Worlds" season four

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Paramount has released the official trailer for the fourth season of Strange New Worlds which will begin streaming on 23rd July 2026.
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Of Chekhov, Schrödinger, Occam and Murphy'

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X, formerly twitter, is not always the most rewarding read, but every so often you get something on X which is so useful, entertaining or fascinating that it rewards putting up with the tnonsense.  I love this crossover between Chekhov's Gun, Schrödinger's Cat, Occam's Razor, and Murphy's law.
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Joke of the week.

A Soldier, a Sailor, an Airman and a Royal Marine got into an argument about which branch of the service was "The Best."  The argument became so heated the four servicemen failed to see an oncoming truck as they crossed the street. They were hit by the truck and killed instantly. ...  Soon, the four servicemen found themselves at the Pearly gates of Heaven. There, they met Saint Peter and decided that only he could be the ultimate source of truth and honesty. So, the four servicemen asked him, "Saint Peter, which branch of the Armed Forces is the best?"    Saint Peter replied, "I can't answer that. However, I will ask God what He thinks the next time I see Him. Meanwhile, thank you for your service on Earth and welcome to Heaven."  Sometime later the four servicemen see Saint Peter and remind him of the question they had asked when first entering Heaven and asked Saint Peter if he was able to ask God for the answer to their question. Suddenly, a spark...
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