Queen's Diamond Jubilee Celebrations

[Tallsar]

There is no doubt that the effort put in by all concerned was well worth it. A clear reminder to the Nation of the significance of our armed forces and thier relationship with their Sovereign and CinC. She was obviously delighted with it all, especially the 60 and EIIR formations. I did wonder why it was timed for yesterday.... In days past such a signifcant parade I suspect would have been integrated into the main event in early June...showing just how integral the military and HM were to the fabric of the Nation etc. I suspect this is not part of our modern ethos in our consumer and celebrity lead individualistic society

I am with Beagle though, that effort and success shouldn't cloud our judgement to how bad things have become... and may still yet get worse (How many F35s & Tiffs will we have by 2020?). We have thrown too much away in recent years on the back of an unwinnable mega counter-insurgency..... and while well trained soldiers can be recruited and trained over several years, restoring a high tech air power capability takes decades. That suggests a strategic blunder in my opinion, which yesterday's flypast merely emphasised. We have thrown the baby out with the bath water of essential expenditure cuts. I couldn't help but wonder what effort went into getting that Tiff D9 together in the circumstances - well done. I am sure I wasn't the only one to hear the Windsor clock bells chime as the flypast went by...showing who was on time...Baxter would have picked that up!

I am at one with those bashing the Beeb... its over-emphasis on "productionising" the format with interviews and side events was at best semi-relevant and often totally distracting from the main events. The commentary was revealing of a presenter focused culture (Have you seen the latest "Live" nonesense with Hammond from Africa?) yet providing presenters who are names not experts. Anyone watching the Olympic flame coverage at Culdrose and the next morning would have found similar. Personailities now seem to matter at the Beeb - not research and factual presentation. Our national broadcaster did a pathetic job yestreday - the sound management was particularly abysmal. As Chug says... give it in future to someone who might care from a commercial product perspective at the very least.