Happy New Year!

I have to do this now, for tomorrow I shall be legless by about this time. So Happy New Year to one and all. 

Two points I'd like to make are first; my equal thanks to everyone who has read the blog and left comments this year. Clearly this is what drives blogs like this onwards, and now things have calmed down a little for me away from the blog I should have more time for writing. Secondly, my thanks to other bloggers from around the web such as Think Defence and The Thin Pinstriped Line, both of whom consistently drive a lot of traffic this way, which makes the difference between this being a properly read blog vs. just some madman ranting at a keyboard.

Finally (I guess that makes it three points, so I lied to you earlier) I'd like to give a hint at what my next post is. Think Defence recently did a piece entitled "What will be the biggest threats in the next 10 years?". In the spirit of his effort to coordinate a form of joint blogosphere analysis leading up to the 2015 SDSR, I'll be sharing my mindless ramblings considered thoughts on the future of UK security, and indeed the security of the world.

Yes, I am that mad. Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas

Erm, yes, Merry Christmas.

Joint Strike F**k-Up

Right, back to writing again. At last. And today I'm going to cover a topic that has been a hot button issue for many years, and which I suspect will remain so for many years to come; the F-35.

This is not going to be a long and exhaustive look at the program. This will not be another article to join the many, many (many!), articles and discussions online that go into the minute details of which systems are functioning and which are not, whether the aircraft can fly 500 miles with an internal payload or 550, or how many F-35's it would take to change a lightbulb etc. I just want to sit back and give my thoughts on the program overall.

Update; 13/12/13

Just to let you know, I've spent the last week busy at work trying to salvage something from somebody elses monumental f**k up, which is why I haven't posted. I do have a plan to put up a post this weekend though, so keep an eye out for that.

The Victoria Cross: Bar for the Cross

This is the second part of an occasional series looking back at winners of the Victoria Cross. It seems odd that men who have won such a high award are often barely known today, so this series is designed to bring some of their exploits to light once more and celebrate them, if only on a small scale.

Today we're looking at the three men who reside in a very exclusive sub-group of Victoria Cross winners; those who have been awarded the Victoria Cross twice, for which they are awarded a bar for the ribbon on their cross.