enz

Do you think that turning up to the courthouse wearing a MAGA hat would be enough to be excused Jury duty? Another idea occurs - could Donald claim to empanel his own jury (selected on the basis that they are wearing MAGA hats), but of 20 members, say, and then declare that as his jury is bigger then he wins the court case? Should this be suggested to him?

Correct and brave to say it. cf my understanding of "the speech to the electors of Bristol" by Burke (I think), which basically was "I am your agent in Parliament, not your mouthpiece, so I will act in what I believe to be in your best interests given the information I have not necessarily what you may tell me". enz Edit: now I see I'm late to the debate - apologies.

It's the ten legs and primate-looking head (until you reach the fangs) on the AI spider that has me worried - is it a Maralinga variant? And as for the huntsman closeup, that may be tonight's nightmare subject taken care of, thank you! (Look at those fangs, just look at them!!!).

Yeah, but which God - Thanatos?

I'm not giving this info a "useful" rating as I really, really don't want to have to use it! Any desire to visit Aus again is taking a significant drop. From a snake-free NZ - enz

You could close the station (or part of it) to passengers and run it as a parcels and/or small consignments goods station. Perhaps have a passenger service in the day and all goods at night using one of the platforms for a limited passenger service or all three swapping function. If you assume that some of the stock are going to different destinations, either as trip workings or the nucleus of inter-city parcels or newspaper trains, you would be able to have some entertaining shunting, if that's your thing. Just a suggestion, but I think it could work to provide variety. Evan

Still dreaming of Mad Max as a Utopia, are you? (Being pursued by a bunch of Bikies and Kundalini who wants his hand back).

Hello, Boardpersons of Castle Aching. A couple of comments / questions on the plans for BA, if I may. Firstly, should you attempt to combine coal yard and sorting? As I understand it, the coal yard works with wagons that are placed and left because the merchants will be in those wagons unloading at any time of the day. They won't want to be told to clear off for long periods while the railway shuffles wagons around for it's own purposes - and a sorting yard is all about wagons being shuffled around for the railway's purposes. The miniature employees of the coal merchants will not appreciate attempts to merge the two if they are being told they have to empty a wagon which may suddenly move at any moment. Secondly, there's a lot trying to fit into BA. It's a four way junction and practically every train and every wagon passes through. That'll involve a lot of marshaling, and I'm not sure there is enough space to fit it within the visible section along with the passenger and goods facilities. So a suggestion - how about a 'virtual' marshaling yard just beyond the road bridge (in real terms another couple of cassette lines between the two coastal lines, replacing the carriage shed (I think it is)). Advantages are unlimited storage and easy train makeup for CA and Achingham, disadvantages are you don't see the wagons and you don't get to play with a shunter making up the train - but I recall that the Chair has observed that he's not really that much into goods operation and I suggest there will be plenty of shunting to do with the coal/shed/mileage sidings anyway. Hope it's acceptable to make these suggestions and they trigger thought rather than confusion. Regards - Enz.

You suggest that the hallowed game be sullied with such a second rate interest as politics? You have much to learn, youngling! ;)

Couldn't do that - it would have contaminated the English water supply - given that Welsh water is piped to Liverpool, etc, I believe. And c'mon, you can't blame the fallout for the wild wildlife. It was just that Mother Nature knew what was going to happen to her children on the continent and was doing her best to give the originals a fighting chance. Maybe they are trying to say something... ;). (From the 'little brother' country where the only venomous critters have been blown over from or imported from Australia. It's the geology that's out to get us. We've still got bits in Christchurch from 2011 where no one lives, the houses were demolished but the streets are still there. A two dimensional ghost town. We had a mag 6.0 reminder a few days ago.) Regards, enz

@The White Rabbit, I can't decide whether I rate your words of military wisdom above as funny, informative, thought-provoking, or pretty much all of the alternatives available on the like button. Where's the "all of 'em" button when needed. A thoroughly amused enz.

"Only?" Well, that's ok then..... Jeez, what is it with you lot - death wish? Aren't the Snakes/Spiders/Crocs/Sharks/Jellyfish/Stonefish/Plants enough?? Now you have to throw in diddly little invisible buggy virus thingies into the game for a bit of added excitement. Clearly not enough, Mr Bear. That's why Australia imported the Cane Toad.

Hi people (Warning: the following may be uncomfortable for persons currently identifying with the status 'unwell'. I have found that my sense of absurdity may unintentionally bother some people. Also, it contains many exclamation marks, some multiple. Terry Pratchett's warning may apply.) Read the quoted section over lunch and it's raised some thoughts. This could create some problems with treatments. If my doctor considers I am obese and that is causing medical issues, can they offer me treatments without telling me the reason - so much for informed consent ( and it wouldn't work anyway once I get back to Dr Google and find out what I have been prescribed is used for weight reduction). Alternatively, they could offer treatments for the symptoms rather than treat the cause, but that might be like giving me a paracetamol and a sticking plaster for a mangled leg, leaving me 'uncured' and them risking malpractice. But on the upside, it offers a wonderful solution to all the NHS issues I keep reading about on here. ALL illness diagnosis is discriminatory! There is no illness!! How dare you label people as 'ill' - you're being healthist and applying a discriminatory label!!! They should be allowed to continue with being 'differently-enabled-by-body/health' and no interference! Thus, no medical treatments are required! No NHS - no problems with it! No money needed for Western 'medicines' so no big Pharma - it keeps on getting better! (Come to think of it, employers will love this - no need for sick leave either!) Sorry you're going to be out of a job iL Dottore, but you're retiring anyway, aren't you? Think of all the medical personnel suffering from the stresses of their work - all gone! (Actually gone twice, since claims of 'stress' is itself discriminatory - I am 'differently-emotioned/differently-self_biochemically_functioned, thank you.) There's always a silver lining if you look hard enough. Regards, enz.

Subsidence? That would be an interesting thing to model in a mining area. Or in my case, possibly an excuse for the state of the model. Regards, Evan

And so a question on locomotives going uphill morphs into a discussion on trains going downhill. I know thread drift is a thing, it's the sheer opposite of theme that amuses me and I can't help but remark on it. - E

Sydney - where even the air wants to kill you. Actually, I'm not sure you can blame the steel mill - this is Australia, with all it's interesting wildlife. It could have been tiny spider hatchlings ballooning and being blown on to the washing, and being babies (not yet fully in control of mouthparts) drool some venom on it, thus corroding the holes. I mean - which is really more likely in Australia - production or wildlife. (Not a conspiracy theory at all.) Regards from NZ - e.

What, you lot haven't claimed Chocolate Fish yet?! A true NZ section should also contain NZ-origin Marmite, surely, lest the citizens of these blessed isles be forced to turn to that culinary violation referred to as Vegemite. (It turns out that Marmite has regional variations, as we found out when the factory that produced it shut down after it was found to have been damaged in the Christchurch Earthquake of 2011. They tried to import South African Marmite, but it wasn't the same taste apparently.)

Let's go back towards first causes. The invention of Agriculture. It replaced a relatively easy lifestyle of hunter/gatherer with the unremitting labour of farming, it replaced travel over an area with the requirement to stay in one place, it both enabled and forced population growth, it enabled the growth of elites, and it enabled all the inventions given in the replies above. Agriculture - bad idea leading to more bad ideas. (You could go further and suggest the domestication of fire, but I see that as an acquisition rather than invention, and I rather like the warmth and light at night.) Regards - Evan

No,no - hanging in front of the bridge with the rope sized so the feet of the victim hang a couple of inches below the clearance. That way you can tell if your vehicle will squeeze through. Even comes with a slogan to help remember - "if you get a kick you won't fit!"

I thought that Aussies jumping up and down on things was to try to deal with the spiders (and possibly snakes, bit I suspect the snakes would get their revenge).

And on a genuine concern - with all the rain falling and the plants (aka fire fuel) growing, how will this affect the next fire season? Could be bad. Hopefully not. Regards - E

Even the aircraft don't want to go to Australia. Perhaps the engine has technology from the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation lifts allowing it to see it's near future. (If obscure - Sirius CC lifts, if I remember the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy correctly, could predict the near future so they would know that you needed a lift before you did. As with all Sirius CC tech, it was problematic - particularly if the lift wanted to hide in the basement.) - E

A greater understanding of the Aussie psyche can be gained by realizing that, to Australians, Mad Max isn't dystopic, its aspirational. From a Kiwi. - enz

"... the standard collected classics most noble families favour instead of wallpaper to line one room of their mansions, though usually the wallpaper is in more danger of being read." Against a Dark Background, Iain M. Banks. I suspect it's apt. Regards, Enz.

You're quite right. November 1987 from the NMRA mag index at http://www.olimpia.com:8084/SearchPage.html and from my hoard of mags (small hoard but luckily included). The author (AM Lawrence) particularly notes the similarity of the trackplan to Ashburton's. Hope this is of interest. E.