Thunder, Plunder And Laws Rent Asunder

 Hello!

Allow me to get the pleasantries out of the way and then we can get down to the usual curmudgeonly nastiness.  I take it that's what you're here for?  If you were expecting nineteenth-century nonsense verse or happy rabbits gambolling in the meadows THE EXIT DOOR IS THAT WAY!

     

I like this chap.  He looks positively sinister.

     Here an aside.  What exactly is a 'Mock Turtle'?  Enquiring minds need to know*!

     Right, back to despoiling icons and shattering reputations, as we review Legal Eagle's "Laws Broken" analysis of "Raiders of the Lost Ark".

    Some background information for you.  'Legal Eagle' is a Youtube channel from Devin Stone, a South Canadian attorney, who addresses all sorts of legal issues raised in film and television, looking at them from a qualified legal perspective.  In 'Laws Broken' he goes through a film and tots up the total number of years the hero would spend in jail and how much they'd have to cough up in fines.  Art?

That scamp Devon

     I warn you, nobody ever comes out of these things smelling of roses.  

     SERIOUSLY!  If you value your childhood memories read no further.

     Okay, the first charges levelled against Indy are those of robbery, theft, looting and Plunder. His modus operandi seems to be arriving in a country, finding valuable artefacts and stealing 'museuming' them back to South Canada and a display case, including his own house.  

He doesn't bother to obtain permission from the local or state government or archaeological authorities, to check provenance, get a licence to extort - sorry Freudian typo - 'export' them or any variety of legal standing that would allow these things to be removed.  Nope, he just swoops in and museums them.  Devon points out that there are scads of laws in existence brought about to prevent exactly what Dr. Jones is doing, both in South Canada and elsewhere.

Yeah, you may well look sheepish, mate.

    Mind you, that all-out cad and bounder Belloq, having stolen the golden idol from Indy, cannot enjoy the fruits of his intervention.  O no.  

The idol is stolen, and it's status remains as stolen, wherever Belloq takes it and whomever he sells it to, and if the vaguely-identified as South American authorities were to track it down, that callow purchaser would have it snatched from their hot sweaty hands without a shred of compensation.  Art?

White hat, black heart

     Conrad feels that we ought to pause there for today, as you need time to recover from this traumatic expose.

     Motley!  I am going to duck-tape you to that chair, and then use some lazy-tongs to open this mysteriously-carved wooden chest right in front of you.

More Of Plunder

"Operation Plunder", that is, which of course - obviously! - can only refer to the assault crossing of the River Rhine in March 1945.  But we knew that already.

     No, what I'd like to do is present you with some of the digitised files that I've been studying on the Canadiana Heritage website.  Art?

     The first photograph above shows the different artillery regiments assigned in support of Operation Plunder, along with a load of alphabetical codes that I don't understand, so you've got no chance.  The second one shows the detailed fireplan for the 7th Medium Regiment (Royal Canadian Artillery), what times they have to fire, how many guns will be firing and at what rate, and (I think) the four-figure reference is the target they'll be firing on.  These fireplans had a number of different interations, named "Droop", "Dial" and "Drum".  Art?

     This is one of the kind of artillery pieces the 7th Med. Rgt. RCA would be using, a 5.5" gun, and as their fireplan was for "Counter-battery" they would be attempting to 'neutralise' enemy guns and gunners.  Not necessarily destroying weapons and killing gunners (though that would be a bonus), rather possibly damaging them and definitely keeping the gunners grovelling in the bottom of a slit trench, rather than firing back.

Bring the thunder

     That above is the lunar landscape of Wesel, which was hit by 250 of the RAF's Giant Flying Mallets (a.k.a. the Lancaster bomber), before being pounded by some of the 5,480 artillery pieces supporting the Rhine crossing.  If it sounded like thunder from the Allied lines, the gunfire on the Teuton side felt like thunderbolts.

     I say, that was a bit grim, what?  Let us lighten the tone with - LITHIUM WAFER BAT - on second thoughts perhaps not.  Ah!  I know -

Bendis Recommends

I hope you misanthropes are taking advantage of Conrad's selfless publicising of this list as compiled by the mighty Brian M. Bendis.  You are, aren't you?  Because if not I WILL FIND OUT AND I WILL NOT BE HAPPY.  The last time I was unhappy a small earthquake occurred, a government was overthrown and lions were seen lying down with lambs.

     So, Bri, what do you have for us today?  Aha, a self-published - O hang on, sorry, my eyes deceived me, the lions ate the lambs.  There.  Glad we got that cleared up. Anyway, back to - "Copra".  Art?

     This is an oddity - a self-published comic that sells out at the shops, and which critics love, according to BMB, although reader's opinions on "Goodreads" were quite polarised, either love it or loathe it.
     It seems to be the creator's love-letter to "Suicide Squad", crossed with "Doom Patrol", so expect a strain of weirdness throughout.  Nominally the plot concerns a bunch of superpowered or -skilled agents having to track down a traitor.

     If it was an attempt by the creator, Michel Fiffe, to raise his profile, then it certainly succeeded, because, after all - here we are.

Finally - 

Make mine Mechlin.  Mechlin, not to be confused with Michelin, because the latter makes tyres (I think, not great on car-related stuffs) and are something to do with restaurants - Art?

Good lord, no thanks!  I wouldn't want a horror like that coming at me like an express train!

     - and the former is a type of lace, popular according to Wiki until the early years of the last century, which fits in with Bertie Wooster going on about the stuff in "Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves".  He disparagingly describes how the hero of magazine romances was always flicking the ruffs of Mechlin lace at his wrists, in a gesture of defiance (which probably came across as having palsy).  Art!

                  

     It looks fearfully involved to Your Humble Scribe, doubtless very expensive and if one were to spend money on it, then you'd have less cash for books, wouldn't you?

    And with that, we are done, done, done.  Very definitely done!

*  Also, how do you cook one?