Good looking landing gear bogie too. Same system as Me-163 Komet -throw it away after take-off?

Tillerman.

Since a couple of weeks, the island of Sao Tomé became available in high resolution. At the Salazar Airport at Sao Tomé you can see now a clear image of the two Nordair Connies (CF-NAL & CF-NAM) which were left abandoned there since the Biafran war ended. They were owned by Nordair and flew numerous night supply missions to Uli Airstrip for Joint Church Aid (nicknamed Jesus Christ Airlines). I always found those two Connies and the stories behind them very intruiging, the more so since I watched (and taped) the excellent, Danish made, documentary ‘Jesus Christ Airlines’.

A Google Earth image and a link to the real thing are below.

Tillerman.

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1013145/L/

It is with great pride and joy that I can announce that Balkenende announced the resignation of his government today.

I’ll second that 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 .

Like the allies had when they liberated your country from the Nazi’s?
I don’t think the US or UK made any money on the deal…or judging by your attitude much gratitude either. 😀

The interest that was to be gained for the US during WWII, was that Europe would not entirely be brought under the influence of communism. Not from an altruistic attitude, but it was the economic and political interest which drove them. Having friends on the European continent would make it easier for them to keep a watching eye on the developments (economically, technically, politically) by their arch rivals the USSR who also had the ambition to become a world power. A free Europe would also be a great market for American products.

I know there’s no such thing as a free lunch and I dont mind that, but don’t do as if you’re the worlds greatest benefactor. Just mention things as they really are.

And gratitude? You really want me to bow my head for any US person I see? I’m aware that we were better off under US influence than under USSR influence, but I also know the true reason we were liberated by US, Canadian, British and Polish troops. And it was not philantropic.

Tillerman.

Americans will be there to save you by protecting your shores or flying relief supplies in by C-17.[/B]

….But only if there is an economic or military interest :rolleyes: .

Tillerman.

Your answer seems overly hypocritical; either that, or you purposely dodged the question.

Wat do you want to hear from me? That I support the nitwit who is president of Iran now? I don’t! Neither would I entrust the Palestinians with nuclear arms, although I symphathize with them for the way they are intimidated by the Israeli’s. Diplomacy based on spreading fear just doesn’t work, it just polarizes the controversy.

The main problem is sketched by Grey Area:

There’s an international market in fissionable material and the knowledge of how to build a nuclear device is out there in the public domain, for pity’s sake.
The nuclear genie is well and truly out of the bottle and it is both over-simplistic and dishonest to pretend that it can be forced back inside again.

That’s the real problem. None of the administrations which posess nukes will be prepared to give them up.

Tillerman.

Then you’d support a Palestinian nuclear force, right?

No. I’d support a world free of nuclear force. That includes the USA.

Tillerman.

When you have a gun of your own, you cannot forbid someone else to have his own gun also. So on what grounds can a country which already has a WMD-arsenal, like the US, tell another country NOT to develop its own nuclear missile?

Personally I don’t think we (meaning U.S. & Europe)…

What would you guys recommend the U.S. & Europe do to deal with this?

What do you mean by “we, the US and Europe”? I have absolutely no connection with the American way of solving problems around the globe. I have had enough of the trigger-happy way in which the US behaves. It appears to me the US government thinks it is the only nation in the world which knows the difference between good and evil and therefore is in a position to act as a worldwide police force. In my opinion the US gives a wrong impression of what it means being a superpower.

People like George W. Bush jr., Condoleezza Rice and Donald Rumsfeld lack even the most basic political skills. The only language they speak when other countries are not immediately obeying the American orders is a harsh language of warnings and threathenings.
This usually does not call for an understanding attitude from the other party. It works counter-productive and causes, understandably, pigheadedness. The values and the way of life from the Western world are not necessarily the only good ones, and one must not want to transpose them to totally different cultures as a way to solve potential conflicts. You have to understand the local circumstances, and that’s were true diplomacy comes in, instead of threatenings and showing force.

GWB forced others, like Tony Blair and our own Dutch PM Jan Prietprater Balkenende, to “follow the leader” with his “who is not for us, is against us” speech. I found that an utterly revolting way of thinking. As if it is not allowed to have a mind of your own!

So yes, I believe more in the “incentive thing” instead of bombing the country back to the middle ages. Try to reach some kind of mutual agreement. And try to make use of the fact that the majority of the Iranian people don’t like their current regime.

Tillerman.