More things I didn't know…..

Well, not strictly me - this bit should be known as more things the record breaking balloonists in St Ives didn't know. For a start, they were trying to launch the balloon in the wrong sort of gravity. They needed to find the sort of gravity that pulls you away from the earth's surface, not keeps you planted on it.

They obviously didn't know that accidents DO happen - so it would have shown a bit of forethought if one of the crew had stowed some blu-tack or some old post-it notes in their back pockets to seal any gaping wound that may arise in the canopy - which of course, it did… and they didn't…..


I didn't know that ….
We are THE World authority for the disposal of 150 decrepit American Navy Warships, filled to the gunnels (and funnels) with PCBs', heavy metals and other man made horrors.

Well, apparently, we are. Just imagine, throughout the entire seaboard of the World's most powerful and sophisticated super state there isn't one, NOT ONE dockyard that has the technology to decommission and dispose of these floating ticking environmental time bombs.

One American Senator recently described this fleet of festering metal as "An environmental time bomb waiting to go off - we need to get these hulks out of United States waters NOW!"

In all, the US Navy has about 300 of these ships, they have sent the first 50 to such 'hive of industry techno regions' as Bangladesh, and the west coast of Africa for scrapping. The locals have complained however - especially as some of them have started to grow third eyes, webbed feet and exterior breathing apparatus.

Who would have thought it. We can't as a nation deal with soggy leaves on a railway line. We can't as a nation deal with the wrong kind of snow (white), the wet kind of rain (damp) and the sunny kind of sunshine (phew, what a scorcher). But we can handle extremely dangerous garbage from our Super-pal because we are so damn good at it …... apparently.

Anyway, the hub of the crud - disposable World is Hartlepool - for that is where these hulks are going to. I wonder if the locals realise they are living in such a World Class skill centre?