Wham, Bam, Thank You S.L.A.M.

The "Thank You" Is Ironic
Which will become clear as we read on.  
     Here an aside.  Yes, already!  This is going to get posted a little later than is usual on a Saturday, since I have already taken Edna for a trot, had a shave and shower, been shopping at the Co-Op, made lunch, put on a laundry wash and read a bit more of the 50th Division's history in the First Unlpleasantness.  Oh, and completed last Monday's Codeword.  Art?

This is for the tourists
(They know who they are)

     Here is Edna's first trot of the day, and you can guess it's Autumn by the wind-blown leaves.  What the picture doesn't show you is how cold it was, with wind-chill taking it down to zero - which explains why the gritters were out last night.
     Back to SLAM, which I'm not going to use full-stops for again, as it is too fiddly.  The acronym stands for "Supersonic Low-Altitude Missile", one of the Cold War's most frightening concepts which we have covered previously here on BOOJUM!  I think we might have a link -

https://comsatangel2002.blogspot.com/2016/10/the-sound-of-fear.html

     The whole project was shelved in 1965, for the reasons quoted above, and also because of the Above-Ground Test Ban Treaty

Devil's in the details

  Now that The Horny One appears to be - because of The Last Trump, the horn blown to announce the end of the world and - well, that was apt - humanity's ascent to Heaven or descent to the Hot Place, if you must know - tearing up arms treaties, it is possible that the concept of SLAM might get revived.  The Tercom guidance system would be replaced by GPS, for one thing, and one can imagine that the original nuclear reactor design would be made smaller, given modern materials and design capabilities.  Thus the original specs of 65 feet length and 30 tons mass could get pared down.  We have countless examples of much smaller cruise missiles that work perfectly.

Prototype "Tory II" reactor.  Which worked just fine.

    Test flying it would be - er - quite interesting.  It would have to be done over the ocean, as Ol' Pluto leaves a trail of lingering death behind it, and you'd need to terminate the flight on an uninhabited island; the prospect of crashing a live nuclear reactor into the ocean depths would probably raise eyebrows, not to mention the background count.*
     There you go, something to go away and ponder for the weekend, and you're welcome. 
     Time to sit the motley down and give it tea and strawberries!

Terrifying tea and sinister strawberries of - hang on, have I got that right?

Meanwhile, Back In The Trenches -
Yes, the First Unpleasantness again.  You have my permission to skip this post, if you feel bored.
     On occasion, if trenches were not too far apart and mutual hatefulness was at a low ebb, the Tommies of Perfidious Albion would hear a plaintive request from the Teuton trenches, asking "How are Tottenham Hotspur doing?" or some other ballfoot club from the mighty capital city of London/Southern jessie haven/overpriced polluted crime-den (delete where applicable).

Picadilly Circus, London
(sorry, no clowns or dancing bears)

     This was because, prior to the Unpleasantness breaking out, for several decades the hotel staff in London were to a large extent made up by immigrant Germans, who soaked up the local culture.  This included beer and - surprise surprise - the ballfoot game, and because they were foreigners in the Allotment of Eden, they bothered to learn the language.  Thus the request about ballfoot club status, since the front-line Teuton trenches didn't get the Evening Gazette.

Tommies in a trench

     Leading to one quoted response from a British soldier: " 'E must be a pretty decent sort of German, then."

It's Going Swimmingly!
Or, "It's Going Really Well!" and this is again ironic.  If your short-term memory isn't shot to bits with all the caffeine and adrenochrome you consume, then you'll recall the horrid 'Syrup of Ipecac' medicine used to induce vomiting in victims the ill.  Modern medicine now holds that causing vomiting is more harmful than leaving someone to be ill, which is scant comfort to all those who were dosed with SoI.
     Enter Dover's Powder!  Art?

Swimmingly, I said

     This dubious compound was composed of Ipecacuana, Opium and Potassium Sulphate, and was intended to make the vic - the sufferer sweat out whatever the disease was, the poor unfortunate.  Usage ended mid-Twentieth Century, when it was realised that a cold was best dealt with by a hearty chicken soup.

Finally - 
Just because I can, here's a picture of some characters from 2000AD, back when it was fuelled by gleeful nihilism and the taint of PC was nowhere to be smelled - 

     Your challenge - name them all!  I can tell you that the robot at front and centre is Walter, Judge Dredd's biggest fan.  Not sure who the tarty scarlet woman is, but she's giving Judge Anderson quite the knowing smirk.



*  Nothing to do with Mr. Dracula.  The ambient radiation level.