The tank graveyard: German depot that has dismantled more than 15,000 armoured vehicles built for the Cold War but now sit waiting to be stripped and melted down

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With conflict in European soil in east Ukraine, Russia allegedly massing her forces at the border, it may seem odd that many of the continent's nations are actually dismantling their armed forces.

These pictures show dozens of Marder light tanks that once belonged to the West German army's mechanised infantry, waiting in the yard of Battle Tank Dismantling GmbH in Edeleben, Germany.
Since the early 1990s the company has dismantled over 15,000 tanks and other armoured vehicles, from German, Austrian, French and other European arsenals. They are complying with Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe, an agreement from the final years of the Cold War which placed limits on key types of military equipment.

Read more on the Daily Mail web site: Link
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Tiger Day at the Tank Museum 2014

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Comment:  Simply awesome :)
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Picture Of The Week - No 28 - Harriers

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Plan to put back in running condition the only remaining Panzer VIII Maus tank.

Wargaming Public Co Ltd will join with its long-term partner, the Russian Kubinka Tank Museum, to reconstruct and put back in running condition the only remaining Panzer VIII Maus tank. - See more at: Link
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Comment: Given that the vehicle is nothing but a shell, I'm not sure about this 'restoration'...  Can't help but feel the money would be better employed getting other exhibits running.  That said, if they achieve their aim, it will be an impressive sight to see.
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Restored Stug IIIG

Some nice footage here of a restored Stug IIIG.
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10 inventions that owe their success to World War One

10 inventions that owe their success to World War One are explained here on the BBC web site - Link
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The Great 1980s Dungeons & Dragons Panic

In an era of potent concern over internet pornography, cyber-bullying, and drugs, it is hard to imagine a game being controversial. But 30 years ago Dungeons & Dragons was the subject of a full-on moral panic, writes Peter Ray Allison on the BBC News: Link
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Comment:  I remember this happening.  My local club used to hire a church hall during the week, and we almost lost the premises until our chairman convinced some guy that D&D was actually all about defeating the forces of darkness etc.

Thoughts For The Day

1. Appreciate your life.

Be grateful that you get to live today and that you have the power to create change and affect other people. It is a gift to be alive right now. Make the most of it.

2. Choose friends who make you feel good.

…and take yourself far far away from the people who suck the positivity out of you, who don’t make you smile, and who you dread to see. Surround yourself with inspiring people who motivate you to be a better you every day.

3. Keep learning everyday.

Never think that you’re #1 at something. The moment you do is the moment you stop growing.

4. Compliment others.

To be able to see the beauty in other people, and to let them know means that you are confident with yourself.

5. Always look for the solution, not the problem.

There is always an answer. Seek to be a creative problem solver.

6. Laugh!

Laughing makes you feel better and works the abs at the same time. What could be better!?

7. Take a moment to enjoy life, and stop to see how far you’ve come.

Stop going through the motions and actually stop to realize and ENJOY what you’re doing. Embrace each experience you have because you can’t ever come back to it again.

8. Forgive people and stop holding grudges.

Be able to LET GO. Forgive others so that you can move on. Holding on to the past is like holding onto old stuff that has no value and slows you down. Live for moving forward and being better.

9. Keep your promises.

In fact, under-promise and over-deliver. But never ever ever break a promise. Your word, your trust, is the most valuable form of human currency.

10. Live clean. Live honest.

No lying, faking, and being shady about anything. The truth allows you to live a way less complicated life.

11. Love unconditionally.

Give your whole heart. That is the only true way to love.

12. Invest in the people you love.

Believe in others. It can be the difference between someone chasing their dreams or giving up on everything. You can be the catalyst of making their greatest goals happen.

13. Never give up.

Keep going. You will get there. Love the journey.

14. Exercise.

Working out releases endorphins that chemically make you happy.

15. Believe in yourself.

Always know that you are capable and powerful enough to make anything you want to happen, happen. It’s your life. You control it because yes you CAN turn your dreams into reality.

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T72 Tank

For those interested in post-war armour this is an interesting article on the T72, and the effectiveness of its armour. Link
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Goodgame Empire

On Facebook I clicked on one of the games they advertise, and I have found myself this weekend sucked into playing a game on the silvergames.com web site called Goodgame Empire.  Certainly worth a look :)
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Tiger Day - Bovington Tank Museum

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Comment:  The Bovington Tank Museum hold a Tiger Day once a year.  Would love to go along one year.  Here's some footage posted on U-Tube of the event yesterday.
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Humour

A husband is dying in hospital with his wife by his bedside.

He says – There are some things I have to confess.
Wife – It’s OK honey, you really don’t have to.
Husband – No, I have to have a peaceful mind when I die.  I had sex with your mother, your sister and both your best friends.

The wife whispers in his ear – I know, that’s why I poisoned you.

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A man walks into Ann Summers to purchase some lingerie for his wife and is shown several possibilities that range from £50 to £150; the more see-through, the higher the price. He opts for the sheerest item, pays the £150 and takes the lingerie home.
He presents it to his wife and asks her to go upstairs put it on and model it for him. Upstairs the wife thinks ‘I have an idea. It’s so see-through that it might as well be nothing. I won’t put it on – do the modelling naked, return it tomorrow and get a £150 refund and keep the money for myself’.
So she appears naked at the top of the stairs and strikes a pose.
The husband says: ‘Stone me, it wasn’t that creased in the shop.’ His funeral is on Thursday.

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An elderly man lay dying in his bed.  While suffering the agonies of impending death, he suddenly smelled the aroma of his favourite scones wafting up the stairs.

He gathered his remaining strength, and lifted himself from the bed.  Leaning on the wall, he slowly made his way out of the bedroom and, with even greater effort, gripping the railing with both hands, he crawled downstairs.

With laboured breath, he leaned against the door-frame, gazing into the kitchen.  Were it not for death's agony, he would have thought himself already in heaven, for there spread out upon the kitchen table were literally hundreds of his favourite scones.    

Was it heaven?

Or was it one final act of love from his devoted Yorkshire wife of 60 years, seeing to it that he left this world a happy man?

Mustering one great final effort, he threw himself towards the table, landing on his knees in rumpled posture.  His aged and withered hand trembled towards a scone at the edge of the table, when it was suddenly smacked by his wife with a wooden spoon.

 “Bugger off”, she said – “they’re for the funeral”.

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An old man wanted to plant his veg garden, but it was hard work at his age.  His only son, who used to help, was in prison.
The old man wrote a letter to the lad:  “Dear son.  I’m feeling bad because it looks as if I won’t be able to have a garden this year.  I’m just getting too old to dig it.  If you were here, I know you’d do it for me.  Love, Dad”.
A few days later he got a letter:   “Dear Dad, for heaven’s sake don’t do anything in the garden, that’s where I buried the bodies.  Love, your son”.
At 4am the next day, the local CID showed up and dug up the whole garden without finding anything.  They apologised to the old man and left.
That same day the man got another letter, saying:   Dear Dad, that’s the best I could do.   Love, your son”.

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A housewife preparing vegetables for lunch asked her husband t get her a cabbage from the garden.  He was away so long she went looking for him, and found that he had collapsed and died.   At his funeral, a friend of the family asked the wife:   “Whatever did you do?”.
She replied:   “I had to open a tin of peas”.

Lost City of the Legion: Caerleon

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As centuries pass in such historic venues, history often melds into romance, and so it was with the lost city of the legion. Though much had disappeared, what remained was dramatic. Legend says that King Arthur himself made Caerleon his headquarters, and that the amphitheater was indeed his famous Round Table. As tales of Arthur, his knights and valiant deeds became all the rage in the Middle Ages, Caerleon emerged as a favorite site with storytellers. In Wales they were gathered as the Mabinogion. Geoffrey of Monmouth (just up the road) linked Caerleon with Arthur in his History of the Kings of Britain, and Thomas Malory often placed King Arthur in the ancient fortress community. Even Alfred, Lord Tennyson came to town for inspiration when working on his own Arthurian masterpiece, The Idylls of the King.   Follow the Link History.net to read more.
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