The Butterfly Effect: A British AAR

[El Pip]

Greetings from a fresh new page. The next chapter is nowhere near ready for the same reason I've failed to post for the last couple of weeks; I've been ridiculously busy at work due to the malignant machinations of the Irish, Lawyers and, worst of all, Irish Lawyers. I believe I am past the worst of things as from this point on the lawyers will no longer have a chance to get paid, so will lose all interest in the previously vital issues they kept going on about.

I recently revisted the forums after a loooong time away and thought I would look around. I cannot believe this AAR is still running!! I was reading it a decade ago. Well done El Pip!

Welcome back! Posting history says you've been away for about 3.5 years of realtime, that's almost four months of Butterfly time! You may have missed almost 20 chapters. Not actually 20 obviously. Things aren't that rapid.

You took the top of the page!

It was not an auspicious return, but it would hardly be a prodigal son-esque return if it was.

Now we will have to fill another page with spam enlightening and erudite posts!

Luckily this thread is blessed with a readership skilled at both.

It is nice to have a returning veteran like @Raaritsgozilla. His taking top page with @El Pip having over a week is no offense. But someone who is a regular like Robbie, TBC or myself should be flogged with a wet noodle.

I'd even remove the offence requirement in TBC's case.

Lovely to have you back, @Raaritsgozilla, though it's possible that Top of the Page wasn't a thing when you last logged in, so we'll forgive you your trespasses, as we inevitably forgive everyone theirs.

Top of the page has been an ideal for a very long time, even if it does feel "more honoured in the breach" at times.

Tally ho, lads!

That's the spirit.

Absolutely useful, by my estimate... Though I prefer the dark recesses of the Navy... Brought on by the shadow of big gun shells.

An excellent creative interpretation with very strong imagery, top marks.

It's strange how media, especially radio and film, have not been covered yet in the AAR. Newspapers went through their huge boom and conversion into the 'modern' style in the 10s and 20s but the mega millionaire newspaper tycoon is still a thing too.

War stories about the Italian war on film and radio would be pretty big about now.

...what is this, @DensleyBlair's Echoes?! Nay, this is BUTTERFLY!!

As is so often the case Wraith has cut to the core of the issue and highlighted the issues with TBC's posts.

There will be plenty of radio, just discussing things like radio-direction-finding, Air Ministry TR.9D VHF and the Radio (Tank) No.11 Wireless Set. If we veer near films it will be for things that happen around them, not the films themselves. There are doubtless thrilling updates that could be written about the GPO Film Unit and so on, but they will not be appearing here.

Old vets are like the good wine, but for me, who I am like an atom bomb.

An atom bomb in a Sangria factory.

What has the world come to? How could the Men of Tanks be outvoted? What about the Tankocracy? What about the ballot stuffing? Oh the shame!!!
<snip>
Please, I want TANNNKKKSSS!

A triumphant musical return. It is good to see you back, you have been missed and not just for your armoured ballot stuffing skills.

As the instigator of the very vaguely defined “dark places” campaign, I would note that II could mean literally anything that loosely meets the dark places label. Tanks, planes, submarines, sodomy in the navy,

Very wise words.

an analysis on the black body problem and how advances in field feed back into usable military tech… all could probably be squeezed into the category.

I must admit I did try to see how that might work, there is a tenuous link to Infrared detectors but it is weak.

So long and tanks for all the fish! Also end of the page.

Good work all round.

 

[Midnite Duke]

Thank you for the briefing. Fearless Leader, while you are partaking of Irish whiskey, Irish coffee and leftover green beer; we will load the tanks onto ships and bravely sail the Irish Sea. We shall fire large shells in all manner of Dublin blarney (law) offices. With the help of mighty shells, may the lawyers leave their ways of darkness and enter the way of light and wisdom by gaining golden silence.

Lads, we have eighteen cans of spam to eat before the next enlightened report from Sir @El Pip. Good Eats! Tanks to the rescue.

 

[Wraith11B]

Thank you for the briefing. Fearless Leader, while you are partaking of Irish whiskey, Irish coffee and leftover green beer; we will load the tanks onto ships and bravely sail the Irish Sea. We shall fire large shells in all manner of Dublin blarney (law) offices. With the help of mighty shells, may the lawyers leave their ways of darkness and enter the way of light and wisdom by gaining golden silence.

Lads, we have eighteen cans of spam to eat before the next enlightened report from Sir @El Pip. Good Eats! Tanks to the rescue.

Now now, tut tut, and all that: only us distant cousins would do anything so brash as *green beer*...

That said, having worked with significant numbers of barristers and solicitors, I do not envy your work, Pip. Because as bad as Irish lawyers must be... American lawyers are worse.

 

[TheButterflyComposer]

worst of all, Irish Lawyers.

The wisest, handsomist, most prolific of commentators.

 

[Davout]

Greetings from a fresh new page. The next chapter is nowhere near ready for the same reason I've failed to post for the last couple of weeks; I've been ridiculously busy at work due to the malignant machinations of the Irish, Lawyers and, worst of all, Irish Lawyers. I believe I am past the worst of things as from this point on the lawyers will no longer have a chance to get paid, so will lose all interest in the previously vital issues they kept going on about.

As a lawyer of Irish descent, I represent that remark!!!

 

[El Pip]

Thank you for the briefing. Fearless Leader, while you are partaking of Irish whiskey, Irish coffee and leftover green beer; we will load the tanks onto ships and bravely sail the Irish Sea. We shall fire large shells in all manner of Dublin blarney (law) offices. With the help of mighty shells, may the lawyers leave their ways of darkness and enter the way of light and wisdom by gaining golden silence.

I must admit this plan does seem tempting.

Now now, tut tut, and all that: only us distant cousins would do anything so brash as *green beer*...

That said, having worked with significant numbers of barristers and solicitors, I do not envy your work, Pip. Because as bad as Irish lawyers must be... American lawyers are worse.

I will take your word for that and also extend my sympathies. For if they are worse than what I have experienced in the last few weeks they must be truly horrific.

The wisest, handsomist, most prolific of commentators.

You will be relying on the defence from Carlill v Carbolic Smoke Ball Company I presume?

Though if lawyers (Irish or otherwise) could stick to commenting on AARs and not involving themselves in infrastructure planning and development that would be very much appreciate. Hell we might even be able to build something.

As a lawyer of Irish descent, I represent that remark!!!

I like to imagine Australian lawyers as being more robust and practical than their Northern Hemisphere counter-parts. It probably isn't true, but it's a nice thought.

 

[TheButterflyComposer]

You will be relying on the defence from Carlill v Carbolic Smoke Ball Company I presume?

Naturally not. It didn't work.

 

[El Pip]

Naturally not. It didn't work.

As you obviously can't claim Truth or even Honest Opinion, and with Puffery now ruled out, I am intrigued as to what your skeleton argument will contain.

 

[El Pip]

As the instigator of the very vaguely defined “dark places” campaign, I would note that II could mean literally anything that loosely meets the dark places label.

Certainly the research has taken me to some dark places, not least the 1922 Law of Property Act and the Wikipedia page for Baron Greene.

I expect this to be just random words to most, but given the surprisingly high proportion of legal professionals amongst the commentariat it may provide a clue to them should they be so inclined.

 

[TheButterflyComposer]

Certainly the research has taken me to some dark places, not least the 1922 Law of Property Act and the Wikipedia page for Baron Greene.

I expect this to be just random words to most, but given the surprisingly high proportion of legal professionals amongst the commentariat it may provide a clue to them should they be so inclined.

Hmm...well Greene is significant in particualr for 2 cases, one of which recognised the reality of the civil service powers on behalf of ministers, and the other establishing reasonableness for administrative law...which was essentially the last word on the matter until the Human Rights Bill came through.

1922 law of property act was not as signifcant as 1925 act (which is still relevant and signifcant) but was more of a cleanup job prepping the way for the latter bill by getting rid of all the medieval aspects of property law (that is to say...most property law before 1922).

Putting the two together...could be a few different things. The first council houses, the first suggestion of minimum wage in the mining industry and nationalising that sector, something specific to do with how ministers and their civil Servants enact parliamentary directions, the war ministry, compulsory purchase, something to do with the Earl of Birkenhead...1922 act specifically something to do with wills, intestacy or the Lords kicking up a fuss.

 

[El Pip]

something to do with the Earl of Birkenhead

If I ever do my WW1 AAR then I will certainly try and work the 1st Earl in as he was great fun, alas dead by 1930. I say alas, the main surprise is that he lasted that long.

The 2nd Earl seems to have been a far nicer person, but less interesting. Then again if you are running around Yugoslavia with Randolph Churchill, Evelyn Waugh and Fitzroy Maclean almost anyone would be 'less interesting' in comparison.

 

[TheButterflyComposer]

If I ever do my WW1 AAR then I will certainly try and work the 1st Earl in as he was great fun, alas dead by 1930. I say alas, the main surprise is that he lasted that long.

He 'should' be in TBTM...but I'll have to figure out what his politics are given how much closer a union the UK is in his early career.

Doesn't start well and might even be down as a troublemaker from his student days and irritating manner, but is also a tory bulldog even then. So maybe it balances out, especially if he goes out to bat for them following the collapse of the last Atherleigh government in the late 1890s.

Came in after the Atherleigh governments, so in opposition except for very briefly during the Russo-jaoanese war.

Very possibly on Atherleigh or the Duke's list of useful lawyers though, depending on whether he was willing to join the legal case against DLG. If so, the Liberals wouldn't like him very much (and there's OTL irony regarding DLG), but he'd be in with the elders of the tory party.

This might be enough to rescue him from being on charge of newspaper censorship and put into solicitor general staff earlier. Probably doesn't do much interesting during the war unless somehow some traitors appear and get caught.

Otherwise goes into the 20s with a good legal career and some political capital...unless his affairs get him in trouble.

The 2nd Earl seems to have been a far nicer person, but less interesting. Then again if you are running around Yugoslavia with Randolph Churchill, Evelyn Waugh and Fitzroy Maclean almost anyone would be 'less interesting' in comparison.

His Wikipedia article begins:

He is best known for writing a biography of Rudyard Kipling that was suppressed by the Kipling family for many years, and which he never lived to see in print.

Which is a spectacular insult of a life, and is also unfortunately correct. He was however astonsignly well connected, and almost everyone he knew was very interesting indeed. What his full biography of Churchill would have looked like, we can only estimate.

 

[El Pip]

I'm increasingly suspecting this detour idea was a bad idea as the update is just refusing to be written. I shall preserve for a while longer, but a change in plan may be required.

 

[Wraith11B]

I'm increasingly suspecting this detour idea was a bad idea as the update is just refusing to be written. I shall preserve for a while longer, but a change in plan may be required.

Which may be what happens when you disobey the ghost of Jackie Fisher and refuse to do an update on the battlecruisers!

 

[El Pip]

Which may be what happens when you disobey the ghost of Jackie Fisher and refuse to do an update on the battlecruisers!

This is true, I have strayed far from the path of techpron and am being rightly punished by the writing gods.

 

[TheButterflyComposer]

I've said it before and I'll say it again:

Democracy simply doesn't work.

 

[Midnite Duke]

I've said it before and I'll say it again:

Democracy simply doesn't work.

Especially when following a path that was blazed by TBC. Ships sail and tanks roll out of darkness.

 

[TheButterflyComposer]

Especially when following a path that was blazed by TBC. Ships sail and tanks roll out of darkness.

Oh no, in this case it was the right decision in spite of the process, and although I don't believe in the process (and will destroy it once in power), I will take full advantage of the vote going my way to decry the current powers that be for ignoring the will of 'the people'.

 

[Davout]

Are we there yet? This would be a lot faster if we were writing about universal carriers...

 

[RobbieAB]

Don’t bring the Royal Mail into it again!