(1533) Afternoon all. Situation’s this … had a bit of a turn earlier and am still in it. Blogging would be out, except the sshots are ready to load, so easy enough. That’s going to be it for today. Every so often, I’ll post a further item, till later. MMutR is aware and we are in phone contact.
24. How’s your eyesight?
23. Xer using moniker Lord Miles
“I paid £73 for a 1st class return train in England. The economy class was £20. Upon entering the train, I found out that neither outbound or return train had any 1st class carriages. Spoke to some supervisor or whatever at the ticket office and apparently they have removed 1st class carriages from the route I used. They offered me a refund on the difference between economy and 1st class with an apology. Fair enough.”
Commenter wrote: “You should use http://realtimetrains.co.uk next time to see if the train service has 1st class, which is very useful in and around London when trains with a 1st class section get put on routes where the 1st class is declassified (you get to sit in 1st class at no extra cost).”
Why would you do that in the first place? The sort of people in economy these days, from “guests” of the country to bratty kids. I did travel 1st everywhere a bit over three decades ago (if it was available) … in Europe too. Sometimes it was more pleasant to go through to economy.
22. Some dates in history
“John Jacob Astor IV, Benjamin Guggenheim, Isidor Straus, all opposed a central bank and the creation of the Federal Reserve, they were killed on the Titanic. The White Star Line’s RMS Olympic had had a major collision with HMS Hawke in 1911, sustaining damage to its left side, plus other minor damage. JP Morgan, who funded and built the Titanic, canceled his voyage at the last moment, as did his friend Milton Hershey, who later expanded his food empire.”
Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to corroborate as much of that as you can.
At the 1910 meeting (Jeckyl Island) to set up the Fed, participants included:
- Nelson Aldrich: Republican Senator and chairman of the National Monetary Commission.
- Paul Warburg: Naturalized German banker representing Kuhn, Loeb & Co. who directed the proceedings.
- Frank Vanderlip: President of the National City Bank of New York (Rockefeller-associated).
- Henry Davison: Senior partner of J.P. Morgan Company.
- Charles Norton: President of the First National Bank of New York.
- A. Piatt Andrew: Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Department.
- Benjamin Strong: Represented J.P. Morgan and became the first Governor of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (Note: Some sources list him, others focus on the key six above).
- Arthur Shelton: Aldrich’s private secretary
21. Two conflicting reports
https://news.usni.org/2026/04/20/usni-news-fleet-and-marine-tracker-april-20-2026
Just hours after the United States reaffirmed its neutrality in the Falklands dispute, the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz has arrived in Argentine territorial waters at the personal request of President Milei. Milei has now issued an emergency decree for joint naval exercises with the US right off the Falklands coast.
20. Did I say last one?
… could not go past this:
19. Last I think for this evening
18. No new Moo up on X
… plus not up to it. Those of the praying kind might spare one if you can see your way clear.
17. What’s oncogenic when it’s at home?
It’s Vox, url in blogrolls.
16. This one was curious
Map of Britain, with heads of wolves all over it and caption … the whole country wants them to win. I’m out of touch with football so checked:
Also, Wolves were playing Spurs. Uh huh … understood. Spurs won 1 nil.
15. Chagos … it gets worse
14. Moo corner
13. Apparently she was badmouthing the Cross of St George
12. For your convenience
11. Poor Ireland
