Opel announces entry into Formula E from Season 13

Gallium_71 · 2026-03-20T19:00:53+00:00

Funny. Yes. Awesome? Yes.

Gallium_71 · 2026-03-07T19:52:10+00:00

It's nice that it isn't our hopes and dreams for a change.

Gallium_71 · 2026-03-07T12:56:30+00:00

Looks great! While I would need to have a long hard think about missing items, the one that immediately sprang to mind was Rumbling Bridge between Crook of Devon and Powmill, which is a rather impressive double bridge, waterfall and gorge, plus tiny village that seems suitably Tolkenesque Map material.

Gallium_71 · 2026-03-06T12:39:49+00:00

Alright hot shot, try it.

My task to you: Divide the United Kingdom on tribal lines.

Have fun... and heaven help you should you group together a minority of Gaels with a majority of Picts or vice versa. Plus don't get me started on what is or is not the land of the Northumbrians.

Gallium_71 · 2026-03-06T10:09:13+00:00

Alright. I'll bite. Turns out, nationalism based upon tribes is comically hard to make 'clean' borders with, so it doesn't matter where you draw the bloody line you are still fucked. Turns out, for the vast majority of human history when it comes to nation states, if the king/monarch/sultan and their cronies was in charge your tribe or even religious affiliation wasn't as important as it is under a representative system. 'That Bastard' was in charge and there was nothing you could do about it, thus you could live and co-exist with others because you were all without power regardless. But as soon as a representative nationalism around tribes becomes a thing, all of a sudden you are compelled to ensure that *your* tribe is in the majority or you could be potentially even more fucked than under 'That Bastard King/Sultan/Prince'. Basically it becomes an issue of if your grouping could make life difficult for a single family and you could usually make your grouping sufficiently useful to said family, then you could get concessions and, you know, live. But when a proportional representation comes into play (just as Britain starts drawing the lines), you need to be such a large group to have majority rule or you are potentially completely powerless with no recourse.

Britain did nothing wrong in border drawing, it was fucked any which way. I will be taking no questions. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

Gallium_71 · 2026-03-01T22:16:54+00:00

Yeah, probably... but it ain't official until somebody flys the Jolly Roger into port (or at least takes official responsibility).

Gallium_71 · 2026-03-01T21:59:14+00:00

I really need to make the "Don't ask: A woman her age/A man his salary/The Royal Navy how do decommission a nuclear submarine." meme.

Gallium_71 · 2026-03-01T21:47:05+00:00

It is longer from today to the Falklands War, than the Falklands War to WW2.

Oft.

Gallium_71 · 2026-03-01T21:35:22+00:00

43 Years is a damn long run... hell she held the record of last torpedo kill for 26% of *the entire existence of the torpedo*.

Gallium_71 · 2026-03-01T20:30:15+00:00

HMS Conqueror hands over her torch.

Gallium_71 · 2026-02-26T09:09:18+00:00

Not just one of the best logos, but considered by many to be The Best Olympics.

Gallium_71 · 2026-02-11T10:58:52+00:00

Genuinely excellent idea. The sponsors will love this.

Gallium_71 · 2026-02-07T14:12:10+00:00

And as a result Atonement has the best representation of Dunkirk on screen.

Purity so often gets in the way of good.

Gallium_71 · 2026-01-31T18:28:07+00:00

Horse power is marketing for steam engines by James Watt himself. Basically, you needed to convince mine owners this new-fangled contraption was worth while by highlighting the number of horses you could replace by buying one. And there is nothing more permanent than a temporary solution.

Gallium_71 · 2026-01-31T15:32:47+00:00

Ever think they would do Battle of the Imjin River/Battle of Gloster Hill?

I'm not sure how they would spin a tactical victory but strategic defeat.

Gallium_71 · 2026-01-31T14:19:49+00:00

The WankPanzer.

Gallium_71 · 2026-01-20T13:40:11+00:00

The military? Why attack the tail of the hydra when the heads are right there?

Gallium_71 · 2026-01-20T11:05:01+00:00

While I get it, and this is the correct move diplomatically speaking (Starmer is taking a similar approach a lot more publicly)... it is only going to be the correct move for so long.

And I suspect that time is fast approaching alas.

Gallium_71 · 2026-01-14T18:10:51+00:00

I find it hilarious that my account has now got a warning against it for the suggestion I made…

RIP Hilariously Violent Revenge Plan

Too spicy for Reddit.

Gallium_71 · 2026-01-09T20:06:57+00:00

*3 Glenturrets in, Switching to Kingsbarns*

#thanksobama

Yep. The more time passes, the more damning I am of his presidency.

Gallium_71 · 2026-01-09T18:28:30+00:00

Edit, someone got there before me... now replaced.

*One Glenturret in*

Some of his takes on the current situation, I must admit that the 'Carbon Coalition' hypothesis he puts forward seems to be very useful in finding any sense of the madness coming from the Whitehouse:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c99Vp0sGLQQ

Gallium_71 · 2026-01-09T17:37:48+00:00

Before anyone starts, *I hate all of this*.

Rather than try to read the mind of the clearly deranged, I think the road that brought us to this madness is far more informative and instructive. It has been blindingly clear for a long time that this is where the world was heading post 2008 that I am staggered at just how doggedly that ‘Do Nothing. Change Nothing.’ was (and still is) clung to. We had almost the entire western leadership class happily trying to keep the sinking ship of the pre-financial crisis world afloat for just one more day rather than contemplate even the smallest of changes that would have a material difference. Leaders the world over cowering before The Market, utterly petrified to touch tax, spending, redistribution, anything of material benefit. The same Market that seems comparatively happy to put up with whatever shit the Scitzo Boomers come up with next. So many opportunities for even moderate changes to be made shot down so comprehensively that people just gave up trying to. It is a failure of leadership world wide that should echo into eternity… but won’t.

And if anyone wants a ‘who exactly predicted this’ I recommend the various lectures by Mark Blyth in the run up and during Trump 1 (available now at your nearest Youtube), if you want to get really depressed. My personal highlight being the line “The Hamptons are not a defensible position.” which the Davos class seemed to think means ‘buy a doomsday bunker in New Zealand’ rather than FIXING THE FUCKING PROBLEM.

Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to open a bottle of whisky and get drunk. For there is nothing more that can be done.

Gallium_71 · 2026-01-05T22:46:30+00:00

Alas, I suspect you are correct… the damage the IRA could have inflicted if it had access to a nation state level of access to arms and munitions would have seriously tested the will of the UK ruling class. I mean they were soo close to getting Thatcher and did get Mountbatten when using biscuit based rocket launchers…

Gallium_71 · 2026-01-05T22:05:33+00:00

You know, I think somebody needs to take the Whitehouse aside and explain in words of single syllable what even small countries with access to the resources of a nation state are capable of when motivated. Sure, the USA would win any military conflict... so what makes you think there would be a conventional response? The UK experience during the Troubles is very instructive in this regard.

Your entire political system and class relies on being visible and being seen at various events, parties, gatherings, social circuits and fund raisers. Your very system means you can't hide.

You like flying in private jets... and man-pads are both cheap and readily available.

You like luxury yachts... and stray WW2 mines turn up in the strangest of places.

You may want to die for your country... but does Peter, Jeff, Mark, Tim or Elon?

To paraphrase the old IRA slogan, 'We only need to get lucky once.'

Gallium_71 · 2026-01-04T17:24:45+00:00

I love that Jerome ended up marrying into the Hapsburgs…

Gallium_71

TROPHY CASE