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I trust Channel 4 News (UK) - http://www.channel4.co.uk/news.

Channel 4, for the non-UK types, is a terrestrial broadcast UK tv station, which although has had it's low points, actually has a lot of good quality original shows and documentaries. If I had to choose between the BBC and C4, I'd probably go for the latter. As it happens, I have to choose the latter, as only C4 make some of their programmes available for streaming over the internet.

C4 uses Real for their streaming. I signed up from the US and paid the 5UKP monthly fee. When I tried to view the streams, I was told that they were only available to UK residents. I simply changed my location setting in the account details to say UK, added a UK postcode, then I was able to view the streams without problem. The Texas billing address didn't seem to phase it. It's sad that I have to use this underhand tactic to get at what I'm happily paying for. They could probably make a lot more money if they loosened these artificial restrictions a bit.

Ants? I'm more worried about the humans.

America's response? Barring some miracle in the Fallujah talks, it is to do precisely what the British attempted and failed in Iraq eighty years ago -- shoot and bomb Iraqis into accepting the occupation.

From the film, it didn't seem that the US soldiers - skilled as they may be at killing efficiently - had any talent/inclination/direction to try and win over the locals. They have anyone with language skills so the patrols are limited to hand gestures to "talk" to people, and there is no cultural interaction. As a bizarre contrast, down in Basra, a couple of clowns had shipped out to provide entertainment to the local kids. US patrols are all vehicular, whereas UK troops do (at least some of) theirs on foot, paired up with local police.

End result, US troops need training in fostering local goodwill, not how to shoot (although various ironic statements about how not to shoot friendlies spring to mind).

The poster suggested that UK laws were becoming Orwellian ... Well, if you thought that the UK laws on CD and DVD copying were dumb, you "haven't seen nothin' yet" --- check out the following.

The legal age of consent in the UK is 16 so, as you'd expect, sexual intercourse is a criminal offense under that age. However, they're about to pass a law making *all* physical contact of a sexually-relevant nature with or between under-16's a criminal offense, including cuddling, kissing, and even holding hands. (I kid you not, I wish I was.) And this at a time and in a society where the huge majority of teenagers are sexually aware well under 16, and where popular culture treats sex as a normal part of teenage life alongside music, soft drugs, fashion, clubbing and general street life, ie. just like almost everywhere else in Europe.

There's plenty of info on the subject on the UK's Channel4 independent TV website.

In a government where such idiocy can take hold, is it any wonder that other laws are daft as well?

What's actually happening is a process of ever greater distancing between laws passed by the alleged representatives of society and the people of that society. That can only end in tears.

Just to slightly correct you here, he "allegedly" killed himself, his death is at the very least suspicious in that he was found with a bottle of painkillers that are easily overdosed on, causing respitory arrest and his wrist was slashed as well. It maybe that he did kill himself, though that is not proven, and before the war Dr. Kelly said he would be found dead in the woods if Iraq was invaded. The documents released so far in the Hutton enquiry can be found here and include such interesting information as the government attempting to ensure that Dr. Kelly was not questioned about the status of Iraqs WMD programmes in his testimony before Parliamentry commitees, as his informed opinion contradicted the government line that Iraq was a "current and ongoing threat" as the PM stated and as the PMs chief of staff said he might say some uncomfortable things.

Just to slightly correct you here, he "allegedly" killed himself, his death is at the very least suspicious in that he was found with a bottle of painkillers that are easily overdosed on, causing respitory arrest and his wrist was slashed as well. It maybe that he did kill himself, though that is not proven, and before the war Dr. Kelly said he would be found dead in the woods if Iraq was invaded. The documents released so far in the Hutton enquiry can be found here and include such interesting information as the government attempting to ensure that Dr. Kelly was not questioned about the status of Iraqs WMD programmes in his testimony before Parliamentry commitees, as his informed opinion contradicted the government line that Iraq was a "current and ongoing threat" as the PM stated and as the PMs chief of staff said he might say some uncomfortable things.

Sounds like fun, they have a diversity problem they want you to solve. Its amazing that this day in age we are still this worried about diversity, they probably got threatened by their network and/or the fcc. Anyways, I'm still going to apply, it's a good oppertunity.

For all the grousing about "political correctness", don't forget that Cathy Rogers herself is in the show because the network (Channel 4) wanted a female co-host to widen the demographics a bit.

...laura

The Bell X-1 in no way was a copy of the M52. It merely copied a large amount of the technology. Unlike the M52, it used primitive rockets rather than an advanced afterburning turbojet; it used a low-tech straight wing rather than the notched-ogive of the M52, which caused severe vibration to the Bell design; and the pilot had little chance of escape whereas the M52 had a jettisonable capsule, like the F-111. On the other hand, the ".50 calibre bullet" shape of the fuselage, and the all-moving tail, were "inspired" by data from the Miles design.

My father was an aerodynamicist working on the Miles M52. Here's the story as I got it from him:

There was an agreement that there should be co-operation between the US and UK on supersonic aircraft research. So the US delegation came over to Miles Aircraft (then working on the "black" M-52 project), and took away lots of data, especially from the wind-tunnel (more advanced than anything else in the world at the time). They also took data about the M-52's all-moving tail, the so-called "all-flying tail". When it came time for the Brits to visit the US, they were told "No can do, our work is Top Secret". Because their new Bell project had suddenly acquired *gasp* an all-flying tail as it turned out. As late as the 90s many Bell corp engineers were still under the impression that this was an All-American Invention.

But the real stinger was when the M-52 got cancelled. All of the calculations, blueprints, test data, special instruments and the analogue computer my Father had invented specifically for stress calculations on supersonic wings, all got bundled into Tea-Chests and sent to Bell Corporation in the USA. OTOH the UK Government got a large loan to help rebuild bomb-damage taken (for the most part) before the US entered WW2.

Links? Ok, try the M52 exhibit at the Museum of Berkshire Aviation. Or the Miles Aircraft history page. A plan view and video is available here.

Shortly before he died, my father met General "Chuck" Jaeger. He was glad to know that his work was put to good use.

The UK Channel 4 made a great documentary about the M52, including some footage of the rocket-powered model that hit Mach 1.5 in tests in the late 40's, after the project had been cancelled.

It gets a LOT of hits anyway. The site is frequently offline or slow.

Incidentally the guy who runs the site used to appear on the Big Breakfast on Channel 4 in the UK. He'd show the latest submissions to his site on the programme each week.

That was before the programme got axed, anyway.

Government owned television stations, such as Channel 4

Channel 4 and FilmFour, the film-making branch, are independant companies, although they might indirectly attract funding through the Arts Council for certain films.

Also, I'd hardly rate 4 Weddings as not designed to make money and counterculture...

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Here are two pictures of her. (scroll down)

You want a geek charity? Give something back to the country that built (arguably) the first modern computer. Send bottles of Evian to Yorkshire Water and help them prepare for the suprise of next summer.

Yorkshire Water Services Ltd.,
PO Box 306,
Bradford,
BD1 5SU