Westministenders: A Year of Johnson

[RedToothBrush]

So having given the benefit of the doubt...

... whats your reflections?

Good (and yes do have some thoughts on the positive - challenge yourself on this one as its important) and the bad (and yes this is the easy bit but keep it within reason)?

[quote DGRossetti]meanwhile Donald Trump still makes Boris look flaky ....

[/quote] I really thought that was a spoof when I saw it

Did anyone else feel a bit sorry for him though? I don't think he's a well man and I wonder to what extent he's becoming a puppet.

And something kicking off in Beirut now.

DM wasn't really a woo merchant, but often commented WW3 would start in the Middle East.

It's probably a fireworks factory

From what I've seen suggested, the inital fire was at a fireworks factory. There's lots of speculation as to what happened next but the most sensible I've seen is that the fireworks hit one of the storage silos on the dock.

Some people are saying it might have had nitrate fertiliser in it, but I've also seen is this:

KMC @mccoyspace
I think that Beruit explosion was an explosion in a fireworks depot that triggered a much larger flour silo explosion. That kind of a fuel-air explosion is essentially a thermobaric bomb - which is second only to nukes in terms of power.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dust_explosion

Rather than going for the explanation that there is some sort of conspiracy here to let off a nuke (which I've also seen), this is the one I find currently most compelling.

I'm sure we will find out pretty quickly. The footage is mindblowing though and it certainly looks like there will be many, many dead.

@Jason118

It's probably a fireworks factory

You can file that with "sightseeing at Salisbury Cathedral".

There is no way that was gunpowder.

Just WTF is going on ?

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/eu_referendum_2016_/3986767-Westministenders-Dont-forget-to-stockpile-Again

Some people are saying it might have had nitrate fertiliser in it, but ..

Well if it did it might be shades of this, which was very very bad news, .

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toulouse_chemical_factory_explosion

Damaged a large huge chunk of south eastern Toulouse but since it happened shortly after 9/11 it very rapidly got lost in the media noise.

Apparently the large building in front of the fireworks depo is a grain elevator and 20 silos. Which is what you'd expect to see at a docks.

That being hit by a firework (or some other kind of explosive) does have the potential to create an explosion of that nature. There are lots of previous industrial accidents involving dust (coal, flour etc) which have caused a massive explosion and loss of life.

It was at the Port which is a funny place to have a fireworks factory.

I suspect munitions dump rather than fireworks tbh, but I don't think that would be the source of bigger secondary explosion.

There are lots of previous industrial accidents involving dust (coal, flour etc) which have caused a massive explosion and loss of life.

I worked on a weighbridge for Oman Flour Mills back in the 90s. There was a prohibition on the energy allowed into the loading bay. Not volts or amps but actually energy. The electrical engineers on the project did explain it to me at the time.

DrBlackbird I agree with all you say about Mockers and for several years appreciated his posts for those reasons. It just struck me as odd that each time I did an advanced search the answer came back '0 messages' - whereas a search for TalkInPeace brings up many many of her posts!

There is no way that was gunpowder.

It is quite possible that an initial fire had led to a chain of events resulting in a huge explosion. Initiating ammonium nitrate would create an impressive explosion.

Dig out the Pepcon footage if you want to see how these things can happen.

All very well saying that all forms of initiation are banned from sensitive sites, but it can be something as simple as using a steel screw rather than a brass one in a hinge.

All very well saying that all forms of initiation are banned from sensitive sites, but it can be something as simple as using a steel screw rather than a brass one in a hinge.

In the same job, I saw mica weights used in explosives manufacture ..

I used to work in explosives manufacturing.

Despite all contraband being handed in at the gates, Security still found some contractors having a fry up in the back of their van on a gas stove. In the NG section.

Mockers was posting in mid June (MockersGuidedbytheScience was most recent incarnation)

I asked DH about a flour silo exploding and he said no, it looked like a fertiliser explosion triggered by a fire. He even told me how much fertiliser it looked like but I've forgot what he said. He's a chemistry professor specialising in industrial materials so I suspect rather strongly that he knows what he's talking about.

DH also used to work in explosives and he thought a dust mixture
rather than HE etc

Ive been noticing a lack of names that I used to look out for lately. I was thinking that those who are more left wing (economically) might have a tendency to be tied up through Covid. Do you all know bans are being used? I’ve thought that mumsnet was letting more stand than they used to, possibly because there have been people complaining of censorship. Moderation isn’t easy.

Fine particles of any description can be an issue in explosions. Something to do with large surface area.

Our training guy had a really interesting book on accidents involving explosives. One incident involved a large stockpile of ammonium nitrate that had been poorly stored and had become rock solid. The story goes that someone decided to use dynamite to break it up, but it couldn’t be confirmed as nobody involved survived.

Thanks for the b.day wishes - dd had a lovely time. We woke up at 5:30 in the tent and had birthday cake for breakfast

Love the autocorrect from Mockers to Knockers earlier on too

Will PMK on the new thread

@GrumpiestOldWoman

Did anyone else feel a bit sorry for him though? I don't think he's a well man and I wonder to what extent he's becoming a puppet.

No I don't, because he has always been a misogynist, racist, evil man. He may have dementia, but those views and feelings are still there, even if he does have the cognitive ability to join the dots elsewhere

@SabrinaThwaite

Our training guy had a really interesting book on accidents involving explosives. One incident involved a large stockpile of ammonium nitrate that had been poorly stored and had become rock solid. The story goes that someone decided to use dynamite to break it up, but it couldn’t be confirmed as nobody involved survived.

Im reading reports this morning that the initial fire was started by sparks caused by welding a door to prevent theft of ammonium nitrate.

That's the ammonium nitrate stored next door to a grain elevator and 20 silos, an oil storage facility and a fireworks factory.

Health and Safety has its merits.

Im reading reports this morning that the initial fire was started by sparks caused by welding a door to prevent theft of ammonium nitrate. [] That's the ammonium nitrate stored next door to a grain elevator and 20 silos, an oil storage facility and a fireworks factory. [] Health and Safety has its merits.

And cost. And as long as whoever is responsible (assuming that can be found out with any degree of certainty) ends up paying less (if anything) in compensation and fines then they will continue as now.

As I once learned in the UK - buses could have a lot better brakes, but don't. And that's a commercial, not a mechanical decision.