Early Risers.

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. I watched the second episode of the archaeology dig this evening and they found the grave and remains of Captain Matthew Flinders RN. He was the man who completed the coastal map of Australia and the Flinders mountain range is named after him, very interesting. They then moved on to another cemetery at the other end of HS2 in Birmingham. This was different, it was in a working class area and it showed in the skeletons with many more children, often extremely young suffering from things like ricketts. They found two unusual skeletons, one was sans feet and hands and one had had the spinal column removed, both post mortem. They didn't say what they thought was the reason but my theory was that after the anatomy act (1835) allowed the medics to use any unclaimed bodies from the workhouse. These were such bodies after the surgeons had taken what they wanted. 

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

Well I spoke too soon this morning, before I’d even got to the workshop it was raining, since then, the weather has been awful most of the day, the wind picked up late in the afternoon, but thankfully it’s died down again now. I wouldn’t have liked to have been any of the tree fellers (although there could have been more) working down the road in this weather, that’s for sure. 

 

I’m pleased to say that I’ve completed the 3 way point I’ve been working on for the last week or so. As requested by @polybear, there’s a photo included below. Although this was t a full kit, I’ve used pre-etched parts from DCC Concepts and some of there stainless steel rails. The actual plan was drawn up by myself using Templot and then printing out the plan. The lengthiest part of this was actually placing the sleepers in place, once that was done, cutting and bending the rails didn’t take long at all. Believe it or not, I’ve used just over 2m of rail in this point! I used a completed plastic truck kit (with no additional weight added yet) and gravity to check the operation of the point, I’m pleased to say it works very well, the truck passed through all the crossings with ease in both directions. Really, really pleased about that, so that’s big ✔️. For a first attempt at any sort of track building, I think I’ve done alright. 

 

The photo above was taken, just after I’d finishing and cleaning it of flux etc, but before the isolating gaps had all been cut. These have now all been cut and the point has also been electrically tested etc. which is another big ✔️ then. The next stage will be to solder on some dropper wires so that I can switch the polarity of crossing  vees to suit the chosen route, this will hopefully get done tomorrow. 

[BSW01]

Goodnight all 

[Ohmisterporter]

Mention of the efficacy of capital punishment reminds me of something written by Jonathan Swift after he witnessed a hanging at Newgate. There was, as usual, a big crowd to watch the proceedings; several condemned prisoners meeting their end, the main attraction being a notorious pickpocket. Whilst the executions were being carried out Swift was watching other pickpockets operating in the crowd. Not much of a deterrent then, you may think. But this was a time when there were over a hundred crimes which carried the death penalty, some of them what we would consider paltry these days. 

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[monkeysarefun]

1 hour ago, PhilJ W said:

He was the man who completed the coastal map of Australia

Accompanied by his faithful cat Trim, of whom there is   a statue on the windowsill of the State Library of NSW, behind the Flinders statue.    (We learned A LOT about all The Explorers -  and Bushrangers -  in primary school back in the day, our version of history I guess.)

 

 

 

 

Edited April 10 by monkeysarefun

[Barry O]

Late back from my course tonight. Some interesting driving techniques observed on the A1.. indicators are not optional!

 

Time for some sleep.

Baz

[monkeysarefun]

I finally got around to watching the final episode of "Masters Of The Air" last night, several weeks after it aired -  it just hasn't grabbed me like "Band Of Brothers" did.

 

I dont think there's any spoilers below, just a general critique...

 

I can happily  rewatch "Band Of Brothers" every year or so, and I also liked "The Pacific", since it was nice to see something that featured the war that mattered most to us down here.   Darwin and other northern Australian towns were bombed, and Japanese submarines attacked shipping in Sydney harbour and the Imperial  Japanese Army  got as far as New Guinea just to our north, but for most histories, the war was a European one fought almost entirely in the northern hemisphere, the furthest south and  east many UK documentaries mention is Singapore for instance.

 

I had high hopes for "Masters Of The Air" but as the series progressed I found myself lagging more and more behind.  The Flying Fortress sequences were good as would be expected I guess, but the problem with having a series on bombing things, is that theres not a lot of variety, basically  every episode pretty much ended up being - go to briefing, discover  mission is to bomb something and there'll be flak and fighters; take off;  approach target and come under flak and/or fighter attack;  watch as some of your comrades fall to a fiery death; drop bombs; suffer flak in engine or something; return to base and  be all sad when you found out who didnt make it. There were a couple of subplots involving those who got shot down who either found the French resistance to help them or got captured, but they were just diversions.

 

I also found I didnt care about the characters that much. I know that all aircrew were generally young and white, but they all looked the same to me unlike the deeper character studies  in B of B.  And what made it even harder was that when they were in the air the oxygen masks covered their faces so I had no idea who was who, so when some plane got hit and burst into flames I had no idea who it was I was meant to be sad for.  For some unknown reason there was a half-hearted attempt to include the black fighter pilots of the Tuskegee airmen fame into a couple of episodes but it just seemed   tokenistic .

 

The last personal annoyance was the CGI used when the US  fighters  engaged the enemy fighters. . They'd appear out of no where at about a million km an hour and they'd all weave and  manoeuvre amongst the bombers at hyperspeed like  they were in Star Wars, it looked totally unrealistic,  especially when you see actual footage of air combat from the Battle Of Britain, Midway, etc.

 

The final takeout was basically "Bombing things in the daytime is very dangerous".

 

Masters Of The Air - 2.5 stars from me.

Edited April 11 by monkeysarefun

[Ozexpatriate]

8 hours ago, The White Rabbit said:

Re the comments about AI pictures - I can understand how some may feel it's not for them - the same way some types of post don't interest me - but a reason to stay away from ERs?

Yes. It *shouldn't* necessarily be a reason to stay away. People are free, or should be, (within some bounds of decorum) to say what they like. 

 

If someone sees a post they don't like (whether it is written or illustrated content) there is no reason for the reader to dwell on that post - just move on.

 

But there are people who just don't want to have it presented to them at all. That's their prerogative too.

[Ozexpatriate]

7 hours ago, polybear said:

Would the implementation of the death penalty result in a much lower rate of very serious/violent crime, loss of innocent life due to murder by re-offenders, rape, death due to drug overdose cos' the dealers continue their trade etc. that the overall net effect (i.e. a far lower loss of life, lower serious crime etc.) is actually of much greater benefit to society as a whole?

It doesn't work that way in the US where many states (and the Federal Government) have a death penalty.

 

It is not an effective deterrent. Anyone who thinks so is kidding themselves. Studies are non-determinative. From the US Department of Justice (who has a death penalty for certain Federal crimes), National Institute of Justice:

Quote

5. There is no proof that the death penalty deters criminals.

According to the National Academy of Sciences, “Research on the deterrent effect of capital punishment is uninformative about whether capital punishment increases, decreases, or has no effect on homicide rates.”

 

As Andy notes:

6 hours ago, Andy Hayter said:

The American experience suggests no, it would not have any serious effect on violent crimes.

Indeed so, sir.

 

Edited April 11 by Ozexpatriate

[Ozexpatriate]

The latest 'experiment' in state-sponsored execution murder is nitrogen hypoxia - essentially death by suffocation.

 

You can find the 'sanitized' narrative here.

Quote

Some witnesses commented that Smith looked as if he was conscious for several minutes and "thrashed violently on the gurney", breathing heavily for several minutes before his breathing was no longer visible; he was later pronounced dead.

There are plenty of news reports that explore more thoroughly how truly horrible this was to observe. I'll leave it to those who wish to learn more to search them out.

 

It's worth remembering that M. Guillotine's invention was intended as being more "humane" than a professional executioner.

Quote

The design of the guillotine was intended to make capital punishment more reliable and less painful in accordance with new Enlightenment ideas of human rights. Prior to use of the guillotine, France had inflicted manual beheading and a variety of methods of execution, many of which were more gruesome and required a high level of precision and skill to carry out successfully.

It didn't really work out that way. Nor did the electric chair, or any other invention intended to sanitize state-sponsored termination of life.

 

Edited April 11 by Ozexpatriate

[Ozexpatriate]

8 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

Must remember that next time I'm in hospital and take my old bone dome with me.

Sit up on the side of the bed grasping an infusion pump pole in both hands with a 40's home counties accent and give them the running ...

 

"Gerry at three o'clock squadron leader, I've got the blighter in my sights. Tally ho chaps! Pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pow!"

 

You'll get plenty of attention.

 

Edited April 11 by Ozexpatriate

[Ozexpatriate]

4 hours ago, Ohmisterporter said:

But this was a time when there were over a hundred crimes which carried the death penalty, some of them what we would consider paltry these days. 

An all-expenses covered, one-way trip to Sydney was a much better option.

[Ozexpatriate]

2 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

(We learned A LOT about all The Explorers -  and Bushrangers -  in primary school back in the day, our version of history I guess.)

More fun than the 'protectionism versus free trade' debate during Federation.

 

Hartog / Tasman / Janszoon / Cook / LaPerouse / Flinders / Blaxland, Wentworth and Lawson / Sturt / Leichhardt / Burke and Wills ...

 

That's without trying to look them up. There are, of course, a lot more.

 

And that's before getting to the Bushrangers.

[jjb1970]

The only real deterrent to crime is the risk of being caught.

 

I think criminals are on a spectrum from the hot blooded crimes of passion (the old 'red mist' type of thing) through crimes of opportunity through to the calculating. No form of deterrence will work on the former as deterrence relies on people acting rationally and measuring risk and benefit. Deterrence will have a lot of influence on opportunists and probably highly variable on the latter as their trade (so to speak) will be based on evaluating risk and benefit if they are any good at it. So for the people which may be swayed by deterrence the risk of a 20 year prison sentence is probably as effective as capital punishment as their calculation is whether or not they will be caught more than the punishment. 

 

An aspect which troubles me is the inherent asymmetry involved. Yes there are exceptions involving rich people and celebrities with deep pockets, but the norm seems to be the power of the state on one side with access to forensic analysis and all sorts of technical resource, communications intercepts (a big issue there is which intercepts and information is not shared with the court and defence team) and all the resources of the Police and prosecution services arrayed against some hobo, washed out person, someone with learning difficulties etc and a court appointed/legal aid defence lawyer. I am against the death sentence in principle, but even if I accepted it's utility I just don't have confidence in the justice system to the degree necessary to support capital punishment.

[Ozexpatriate]

3 minutes ago, jjb1970 said:

the norm seems to be the power of the state on one side with access to forensic analysis and all sorts of technical resource, communications intercepts (a big issue there is which intercepts and information is not shared with the court and defence team) and all the resources of the Police and prosecution services arrayed against some hobo, washed out person, someone with learning difficulties etc and a court appointed/legal aid defence lawyer.

Forget all the resources - the big problem is the prosecution harassing the accused (outside of the courtroom) to cop to a plea-bargain to make the harassment go away - (de facto) aided and abetted (by circumstance rather than intent) by overworked public defenders.

[jjb1970]

One of the reasons I had a soft spot for Virgin Trains was the statue of Matthew Flinders they put in Euston Station, though it ended up rather sad as no one seemed to know what to do with it after a while. Most British people have zero knowledge of who he was, the only reason I know is I sailed on a container ship called Flinders Bay and traced back the name.

 

This was why I hated naming the current British Antarctic Survey ship after David Attenborough, it is nothing against Sir David but the former tradition of naming the ships after Antarctic explorers kept names alive which were all but dead to most people and tipped the hat to some brave and skilled mariners. 

[Ozexpatriate]

10 minutes ago, jjb1970 said:

The only real deterrent to crime is the risk of being caught.

Exactly what the US DOJ 'leaflet' I linked to earlier said:

Quote

1. The certainty of being caught is a vastly more powerful deterrent than the punishment.

Research shows clearly that the chance of being caught is a vastly more effective deterrent than even draconian punishment.

 

[Darlington_Shed]

2 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

watching the final episode of "Masters Of The Air"

 

Agree with every word you wrote. Was looking forward to it but it just didn't appeal.

 

Have to agree with some other posts... the AI imaging is (for me) tedious and trivial. I have spent much time lately just scrolling past it and, I'm sure, missing more interesting posts as a result.

 

Between that and the well-recorded glitching (endless page loads, duplicated pages, site not available messages) I've not been moved to post recently. In my case, I'm not the most prolific poster but I'm sure I'm not alone.

 

Regardless, best wishes to those suffering various afflictions to themselves and their loved ones and I hope life treats you more kindly.

[monkeysarefun]

1 hour ago, Ozexpatriate said:

And that's before getting to the Bushrangers.

 

 

Without looking THEM up, either...

 

Mad Dog Morgan, Captain Moonlite, Captain Starlight and Captain Thunderbolt, Ben Hall, Brave Jack Donahue, Frank Gardiner, Jimmy Blacksmith (indigenous) and the Kelly Gang.

[Ozexpatriate]

7 hours ago, polybear said:

Alexa reckons 24 people were executed in the USA last year - with many, many more being on death row for many years (a google suggests up to 38 years in one case). 

The legal cost of defending death row cases is vastly more than life imprisonment. All of the cost of defending such cases is borne by the state - most of the inmates not being able to afford representation, cases take longer and there are more appeals.

 

It may be counter-intuitive but it is far cheaper for taxpayers not to pursue a death penalty.

 

Locally:

Quote

A 2016 study by Lewis & Clark Law School and Seattle University found that 61 death sentences handed down in Oregon cost taxpayers an average of $2.3 million, including incarceration costs, while 313 aggravated murder cases cost an average of $1.4 million.

From here.

[monkeysarefun]

23 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

It may be counter-intuitive but it is far cheaper for taxpayers not to pursue a death penalty.

 

As for mandatory death penalties for certain crimes, various research has established that  juries are often less likely to convict someone if they know that they will be sending them to their death, and will convict  them of a lesser charge, if available  - or even find them not guilty.

 

This has been revealed by studying data such as the court records of the Old Bailey -  once the option of transportation replaced the death penalty for certain crimes, convictions for those crimes went up.

Edited April 11 by monkeysarefun

[Ozexpatriate]

36 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

juries are often less likely to convict someone if they know that they will be sending them to their death, and will convict them of a lesser charge, if available  - or even find them not guilty.

Very natural and understandable. The stakes are higher and the assessment of "beyond reasonable doubt" will often (though not always) be examined more carefully in a capital case. Much might also depend on demographics - of the jury and the accused.

[pH]

I was in the supermarket this afternoon when the muzak started to play Gerry Rafferty’s “Baker Street”. I phoned my wife, partly to ask a shopping question, but partly to let her hear the song. She said it was quite a coincidence, as she was actually reading about Baker Street in a tourism magazine.

 

No, not Baker Street, London but Baker Street, Nelson, BC:

 

https://search-bcarchives.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/nelson-bc-horse-race-july-1st-1898

 

I wonder what Sherlock would have thought of that passing the window of 221B!

[jamie92208]

Good moaning from the Charente.  The pages seem to be loading much quicker today with no scrolling.  

 

The new hen hut is due to be delivered today or rather a self assembly ket.  I will try and get Geodes to back their lorry up to the top end of the garden so that I don't have to carry all the bits a long way.  I might cut the wee patches whilst waiting for them to turn up.  

 

Not a lot else except that it is now just two weeks till Beth's shoulder op.  Our neighbour across the road is having a knee replacement by the same surgeon today.  

 

Jamie