Dumbfounded.... At the Lack of Military Security Culture

I was unpleasantly suprised by this article on the new Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers.

Not by anything directly relating to the carriers themselves, but to parts of the article itself.

First off, lets remind ourselves that these are serious bits of military kit; they are (hopefully) at the cutting edge of military technology; they are important military assets: their capability and any weak points should be kept secret, the people working on them are security cleared.

Why then in this report would there be two points to the contrary?

First, its reported that Chinese workers have also been vetted... I assume any Chinese security agency will either have an agent working as part of the team, or at least the workers will be reporting back to China on the carrier's capabilities "just in case".

Second, the suggestion that the carriers be made in Korea.... the mind boggles: these aren't cruise liners, these are top security military assets.

I just don't understand the mentality of military planning when it comes to issues like this. When it comes to military assets, security is paramount and unless the country involved in helping build those assets is a very solid ally, they should be excluded from the knowledge base.

To do otherwise would seriously compromise our military ability, which I'm ashamed to say seems to be happening.

I was Wondering about Government Monopolies...

A thought crossed my mind (as they tend to do on an annual basis) as to why government departments have a monopoly on certain things.

For instance the DVLA. Why has the government got the monopoly on vehicle and driver registrations? What's to stop me, legally, from setting up my own version of the DVLA and issuing my own registration numbers, driving licences, etc? I mean, I'm sure I can offer better value for money, guarantee not to share any information with any third parties for any purposes and guarantee not to fine people for petty reasons like not updating information,  so should get a lot of custom. After skimming off administration expenses I can hand the rest of the cash over to the government, so no harm done, except maybe provide a more flexible and customer-oriented service.

So is there anything actually stated in law, that prevents people setting up agencies in competition with government ones?

The Arrogance of Mankind.

Its often amused me, the fact that mankind can be so arrogant.

I've said before the Climate Change Lobby are arrogant for presupposing that they can control the climate by making changes to our lifestyles.

The conservation lobby are arrogant to suggest that man can preserve the planet in aspic.

The planet is an ever-changing, living organism and we are forever arrogant to presume that we have enough capability to stop that change. Why would we want to anyway, as mankind, the planet, even the universe around us is an ever-changing wonder?

Without change, there can be no progress, without change, there would be no universe, without change, there would be no stars, without change, those stars would not have converted Hydrogen and Helium into the building blocks from which we are made,  without change, we would not have evolved into the arrogant species we have become.

Every one of us, by their mere existence, has caused significant changes in the universe. Before we even get onto the subject of our interactions with the world, we have changed the existence of the very molecules and atoms that make up our bodies. Without our existence, those atoms may have become something entirely different, not even human.  From the instant our mother and father created us, the destiny of the universal resources that our body is made from was changed forever.

We cannot stop change. We must embrace it instead. Change is good, change brings progress and evolution and used wisely can bring enlightenment. But change happens and we have to acknowledge the fact. Even if we did nothing and stood still, time and the universe would change around us, as we hurtle through space.

As an example I was sat in my car this evening and a light mist was in the air. That mist fell onto the windscreen. By my very presence, the destiny of those water molecules was changed: had I not been there they would have carried on through the air untroubled. Was my presence malign or benign? Who can say, because by being there, at that moment in time and space, things were irrevocably changed. There is no going back and finding out what would happen had I not been there.

The main thing in life is to understand that by being here, you have made a fundamental change to the universe and because that change has happened, it cannot be undone. Make your brief existence in the universe a positive factor. Cause as little damage as you can. But never, ever be arrogant enough to think you can stop the process of change.