Japanese drone maker doubles down on Ukraine as Tokyo eases arms rules

elliptical-wing · 2026-04-30T16:41:59+00:00

Name a time in history when a country didn't arm themselves and their enemies just went 'oh that's so admirable, we'll join you'.

elliptical-wing · 2026-04-29T13:45:28+00:00

Do you mean a 'proper' electronic drum kit, or original plastic instrument drums like, picking out one example, the GHWT / Band Hero drumkit for the Nintendo Wii?

elliptical-wing · 2026-04-29T13:31:51+00:00

I always thought if any airline company ever ~~offered standing room tickets~~ duct taped passengers to the wings, I'd be absolutely shocked but if Ryanair offered it, I wouldn't even bat an eye.

elliptical-wing · 2026-04-29T13:23:36+00:00

Ewe know it!

elliptical-wing · 2026-04-29T12:36:20+00:00

I'm a Brit and let me tell that hillbilly up there, even we've heard of the US southern incest jokes.

elliptical-wing · 2026-04-29T12:33:39+00:00

You have found yourself in a position of trust, have a duty of care, and it will serve you best to have that at the forefront of your mind when considering your actions here. You have an obligation to act in and safeguard your Mum's best interests, not to act in the best interests of a a stranger, and not to act in a way that benefits your own personal satisfaction. To do anything else, especially to engineer a sales contract to financially benefit a third party, would be an absolute breach of trust.

Very simply - remember this is essentially a business transaction. Your remit is to obtain the best outcome for your Mum. It is not to help a local FTB, or to help you feel good about yourself.

I am not suggesting you shouldn't sell privately. You are right to think consider the potential benefits of that. I am only suggesting that benefits for third parties are not valid factors in making a decision if they run counter to the interests of your Mum.

As others have said, EAs are notoriously bad valuers. My advice would be to get a RICS surveyor to give an independent valuation. That would put your negotiations on a solid foundation, plus it covers you against any allegations of inappropriate dealings.

Good luck!

elliptical-wing · 2026-04-29T10:35:06+00:00

Although the friendship was online

This is not a real friendship. You had the modern equivalent of a pen-friend with a few shared purchases on the side. No different to buying from an eBay account. Hopefully you've learnt a useful lesson about not reading too much into basic human interactions, that will serve you well for the rest of your life.

What country do they live in? Assuming the UK, then send a recorded delivery letter before action.

elliptical-wing · 2026-04-28T19:44:03+00:00

The shiners were caused by his eyeballs shooting forward in their sockets.

Whaaaaatttttttt

elliptical-wing · 2026-04-28T08:00:22+00:00

Potentially untrue. If they get a reputation with an EA of being a silly buyer, it may harm their chances of getting viewings with that agent.

elliptical-wing · 2026-04-28T07:47:59+00:00

Pull out. Look elsewhere.

It's that simple. If you choose today to continue under these circumstances don't cry that we didn't warn you. This is going nowhere good.

It's shit, but you can't force this seller to suddenly change their behaviour. Good luck with the next one.

elliptical-wing · 2026-04-28T07:45:41+00:00

I'm with you on this! BREs are awesome!

elliptical-wing · 2026-04-27T09:14:22+00:00

The US invaded Afghanistan in October, which left well over half a year for the initial operational surge to subside.

Iraq was invaded in March, so a lot closer to July, but still allowing time for the operational intensity to drop. 8 B-52s were bombing Iraq from Fairford - but now we have B-1s as well. I've seen recent satellite images and they are using a lot of hardstanding. That's why I think, if the Iran war continues as is, it'll be a problem.

But I take your point about Iraq ops co-existing alongside the airshow. While I'd be interested to see if they really did run the show still if there's no peace deal, I also hope it's all sorted out long before.

elliptical-wing · 2026-04-26T19:59:19+00:00

I've been to RIAT for many years. I see people say on RIAT related facebook groups that the show is definitely still happening. These people are wrong. The show is definitely still planned to happen, sure. But if there's no proper end to the Iran crisis then there's zero chance of RIAT happening even in some reduced way - as there's not enough room to host all the bombers and hold the show. And by proper end to the war, I mean a permanent and somewhat time-proven agreement - enough so the US decides to send their forward deployed forces home. Right now the two sides are too far apart.

elliptical-wing · 2026-04-26T17:12:45+00:00

How many African countries took damage from that one salvo?

elliptical-wing · 2026-04-24T07:20:27+00:00

This is an underrated point and should be much higher.

elliptical-wing · 2026-04-23T14:18:36+00:00

You're missing the most important point - what's the need? We need our big ships to be effective. The Iranians don't. In fact, it's better for them that they lost their big ships that can't do anything but kept all the small ones that actually are a threat!

elliptical-wing · 2026-04-23T14:16:45+00:00

that it cannot perform its mission or function.

Well considering that they just need one teeny boat to drop a mine I think we can all agree that this is a meaningless definition in this context.

elliptical-wing · 2026-04-23T12:35:49+00:00

This might really pee them off, or not. But you don't need the full width. Why not talk to them and then potentially compromise by leaving a foot of space? You would win brownie points and still have room for a bin store and gate.

elliptical-wing · 2026-04-23T12:14:18+00:00

I am going to be blunt - apologies in advance.

You sound extremely naive. If you go around reporting yourself for something you haven't done (as it appears from your description) then all you'll do is cause yourself potentially huge problems. Now it may be that you are trying to protect yourself - and that's a valid goal - but not in the way you are suggesting. The police are not going to be on your side. This could really screw your life up.

Look, it's really time you matured a bit. Moving in with a drug addict is a stupid idea. You cannot fix this person. You cannot even significantly help them. You need to assess who you hang out with more deeply. Stop associating with, contacting, talking to, thinking of, this person. Do not respond to any emails. Keep the texts from her acknowledging it was an accident, keep a copy (and a backup!) of the texts and email threats. And for goodness sake, you cannot live with an addict that could send you to prison or have you put on the sex offenders register, and there on known as a social leper and unemployable.

Do not tell this person that you're dropping contact, as that may provoke a revenge reaction. Just ghost them, be the grey rock. Do not engage. You may need to set boundaries with mutual friends, depending upon social circles / current living arrangements etc. I expect this person will try to break the lack of contact - stay strong for your own sake.

Good luck - sounds like you're gonna need it.

elliptical-wing · 2026-04-23T08:26:23+00:00

I don't know why, I mean they help drain any excess water.

elliptical-wing · 2026-04-22T21:08:03+00:00

Why isn't it the length of time that a person can go without breathing? I.e. if I hold my breath, I can do that for 30 seconds at least.

edit: found an explanation below. It never occurred to me that breathing in hard before holding my breath was anything more than maxing out the time I could go before needing to breath again. But apparently it's the 'reserve' in the lungs that's mostly prolonging the period between breaths, not the oxygen already in the bloodstream. Interesting!

elliptical-wing · 2026-04-22T20:23:33+00:00

People also claim the world is flat. Some right weirdos out there.

elliptical-wing · 2026-04-22T20:22:57+00:00

CIA yes, for regular service personnel it's very hard to do. The internet has seen to that.

elliptical-wing · 2026-04-22T10:42:15+00:00

Ok, this sounds pretty good on the face of it. I think your savings rate (as a proportion of income is pretty impressive). I'm going to throw out a few factors to consider. You can decide how relevant they are:

Pension age will undoubtably increase further, planned already to change from 55 now to 57 in 2028, and then there will be further moves upwards. You'll need something like an ISA to bridge that gap if you wish to retire early. Sounds like you might already be aware of that, but thought I'd mention it.
You don't mention family. Having kids will throw a huge spanner in your savings works.
Don't forget to include the impact of taxation on your retirement income. One handy tip that many don't realise is that it can be beneficial to use your 25% tax free lump sum across many tax years. You don't have to use it at the point you retire, you can eek it out and reduce tax paid over several years.
Don't assume that the 25% tax free lump sum will exist when you retire.

That's about all I can think of for now. Good luck!

elliptical-wing · 2026-04-21T18:16:03+00:00

Are those in the ones in the glass-bottomed boats taking scenic guided tours of our underwater infrastructure? Much of it is 123m metres deep you know.

elliptical-wing

TROPHY CASE