Are we the last generation.?

[MikeParticipant @mike89748]

Mick Charity: I found the link you provided very interesting – it reminded me of the campfire bread we were taught to make in the Scouts in the 1950s. This was all derived from Baden-Powell's instructions for Scouts, so perhaps bread baked by the British army, when on the march or under siege conditions in the Boer War era, was very similar to the Roman army's bread. Just a thought, anyway…

[John FlackParticipant @johnflack59079]

The Paris gun project is interesting. Did not Saddam Hussein have a similar item constructed in the UK and not a single person was aware of what it was(or where it was to be pointed)

[Geoff TheasbyParticipant @geofftheasby]

Not quite, hence the Matrix Churchill case. Also, Hitler's V4, built at Mimoyeques in France, intended to bombard London, fired 'flechettes' and couldn't be adjusted once built, as it was built into a hillside, and made in concrete. A 'pump gun'. (Google it)

Geoff

[Another JohnSParticipant @anotherjohns]

Posted by John Flack on 18/03/2017 14:06:55:

The Paris gun project is interesting. Did not Saddam Hussein have a similar item constructed in the UK and not a single person was aware of what it was(or where it was to be pointed)

Ahem – and designed by a Canadian (Gerald Bull) from "up the line" from me in North Bay, Ontario.

We do export more than just maple syrup, oil and funny accents.

[Nick_GParticipant @nick_g]

Posted by John Flack on 18/03/2017 14:06:55:

The Paris gun project is interesting. Did not Saddam Hussein have a similar item constructed in the UK and not a single person was aware of what it was(or where it was to be pointed)

.

Not quite.!!!

Mossad knew all about it and had done for some time. They warned the designer Gerald Bull on several occasions to walk from the project.

He didn't. ………… He died. ………. The project collapsed.

Nick

[MikeParticipant @mike89748]

Or, for an entertaining version of it, read "The Fist of God" by Frederick Forsyth – one of his better novels.

[Barnaby WildeParticipant @barnabywilde70941]

Posted by Mike on 18/03/2017 12:53:58:

Mick Charity: I found the link you provided very interesting – it reminded me of the campfire bread we were taught to make in the Scouts in the 1950s. This was all derived from Baden-Powell's instructions for Scouts, so perhaps bread baked by the British army, when on the march or under siege conditions in the Boer War era, was very similar to the Roman army's bread. Just a thought, anyway…

They say an army marches on its stomach !

My grandad taught all his grandkids to forage for food on our weekend & summer holiday wild camping expeditions, as I do my grandkids now. It is amazing what can be achieved with 1hr of hunting, fishing & foraging & 1hr of cooking on the campfire. I've eaten just about everything that's edible in the British countryside except Swan, Hedgehog baked in clay in the embers of the campfire for breakfast is still a particular favourite

[duncan webster 1Participant @duncanwebster1]

Posted by Mike on 18/03/2017 12:53:58:

Mick Charity: I found the link you provided very interesting – it reminded me of the campfire bread we were taught to make in the Scouts in the 1950s. This was all derived from Baden-Powell's instructions for Scouts, so perhaps bread baked by the British army, when on the march or under siege conditions in the Boer War era, was very similar to the Roman army's bread. Just a thought, anyway…

when I was a Scout leader we used to make 'dampers' which were bread like, but pretty disgusting. The Roman bread looks superb. The best thing we did on backwoods cooking with scouts was trout wrapped in 5 layers of wet newspaper, just bury it in the embers of the fire, when the paper catches fire it's cooked, and tastes divine

[JonParticipant @jon]

Posted by Mick Charity on 17/03/2017 18:38:42: The fact that we are able to fashion a longbow just as powerfull today proves the theory of 'passing on' to be wrong.

You were on about 'traditional' and that can only be passed on.
At best with any lack of skill set and loss of the then craftsmen, all we are producing is what is thought to have been done and how.
There are similar wood working ideas that use the same basic process far from rocket science.

[Barnaby WildeParticipant @barnabywilde70941]

Posted by Jon on 18/03/2017 22:31:04:

Posted by Mick Charity on 17/03/2017 18:38:42: The fact that we are able to fashion a longbow just as powerfull today proves the theory of 'passing on' to be wrong.

You were on about 'traditional' and that can only be passed on.
At best with any lack of skill set and loss of the then craftsmen, all we are producing is what is thought to have been done and how.
There are similar wood working ideas that use the same basic process far from rocket science.

By 'traditional' I meant the type of bow used during medieval times & not the methods used to construct one.

Interestingly, it wasn't until the bows recovered from the Mary Rose were examined that many amateur bowyers were proven right.

The English Longbow was extremely important to our history & is the main reason why your name is Jon & not Jean & my name is Mick & not Michel.

If you can find a copy, the book "Longbow, A Social & Military History" by Robert Hardy (Siegfried Farnon) is essential reading.

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

China is an interesting case in point. It has gone from a largely agricultural economy to the world's biggest manufacturer in, what, a generation or less. They built the world's largest manufacturing base out of rice paddies, literally. How did they do that? Where did all those toolmakers come from to make all those millions of injection moulds and press dies to churn out everything from washing machines to BMW car parts and everything in between? They had nothing to forget, no ancient craft techniques to lose. Sure they had a small and crude manufacturing industry for the home market in the early communist era but anyone who has seen their goods from that era knows they were not exaclty using the latest or best techniques.

They basically reinvented themselves from scratch. So the knowledge for us to do the same must be out there for future generations to pick up if they need it. All that's needed is the motivation…

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

That's just the capitalists, moving technology abroad to a cheaper cost base

Also better for business if a government will shoot any citizens who step out of line

On the flip side communists like Castro were "bad" communists because they wouldn't allow their populations and resources to be exploited

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

What did push the Chinese ahead of the Indians for example was the cultural revolution, a brutal period which completely dismantled Chinese society, leaving no barriers to social mobility like class differences(1960s)

Once opportunities became available China advanced far far more rapidly than India ever could (1980s)

In the long run, given the right circumstances, Maos Cultural Revolution actually helped China get ahead of the competition

Today China is establishing those same cultural barriers, that upper and lower class type of stuff as increasing wealth creates social barriers

Edited By Ady1 on 19/03/2017 09:01:33

Edited By Ady1 on 19/03/2017 09:10:36

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

So the greatest beneficiary of Chairman Maos Cultural Revolution was Global Capitalism

It's a funny old world, innit

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

Britain got the same kind of boost from the Reformation, when they completely dismantled the Church (The Dissolution of the Monasteries)

Partial list

After that happened we got the British Empire and the Industrial revolution

Edited By Ady1 on 19/03/2017 09:06:43

Edited By Ady1 on 19/03/2017 09:31:57

[JAParticipant @ja]

The dissolution of the monasteries could only have occurred with a more mobile, socially and geographically, population that arrived because of the Black Death. This also produced an earlier industrial revolution including the use of cast iron.

I fear that such analysis is tainted with political bias, but there again isn't all history? And, dare I say it, this thread?

JA

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

Sometimes society needs a big reset button to be pushed, bulldozing barriers out of the way to boost that society ahead in the world

For myself, In modern Britain, I would go for a dissolution of the Local Councils and a dissolution of the Private Education sector

(That glorified day care centre, The House of Lords could do with shutting down too)

Edited By Ady1 on 19/03/2017 10:10:25

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

I fear that such analysis is tainted with political bias, but there again isn't all history? And, dare I say it, this thread?

It's not really about politics, it's about observing human society from a non-biased perspective which only comes from the pragmatism of old age, the world will be what the world will be.

And it makes you money

predicting Brexit netted 10-20 to 1 and predicting Trumpy netted 5-10 to 1, pure cash, tax-free and legal

I'm rubbish at predicting Scottish stuff though, too close and unconsciously bias, too many local parameters. Scottish politics is a strange business

[John FlackParticipant @johnflack59079]

Are we the last generation? (Sounds rather final) as someone past their sell by date, at the age of 19 I was in forced military service as was my father at the same age. Good old days? I'm pleased that a current youngster of 19 has greater opportunities, and appreciate that fact

The concept of "the promised land" or "tomorrow" are iillusiory as when you reach them they are no longer promised or tomorrow, and a new target has to be created and pursued.

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

We will start a new thread tomorrow entitled

“The Blinkered Gospel according to Chairman Ady”

[Russell EberhardtParticipant @russelleberhardt48058]

Posted by John Stevenson on 19/03/2017 13:02:03:
We will start a new thread tomorrow entitled

"The Blinkered Gospel according to Chairman Ady"

Otherwise known as alternative facts

Russell

[Author]

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