Because I Am Going To Use An Item Already Created
I'm horrid like that <tweaks moustache>. Of course - obviously! - we can't simply go straight there, because that would be the sensible and logical thing to do. At this point in typing I looked out of the window at the lowering grey clouds overhead, being scudded along by a biting wind. It hasn't rained for several hours, which is always a good thing. And what a contrast to yesterday's blue skies and sun! Art?
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| A Grade A Grey Day |
However, spare a thought for Wonder Wifey, for her cruise is only just north of tropical storm Nicole, which may get upgraded to a hurricane when it makes landfall in Florida. "No cabin doors to be left open and nobody on deck without very good reason" the instruction went. Art!
Ah, Conrad was behind the curve, it IS now a Category 1 Hurricane and has already reached Florida's shores. O my, how exciting life can be in South Canada! Hurricanes, tornadoes, volcanoes, poisonous bugs and ferocious wild animals*. O and earthquakes and wildfires.
ANYWAY we get back to what I really intended this Intro to be about, which still concerns South Canada; namely why did it take them so long to enter the First Unpleasantness? Art!
Here's where the cheating comes in, because I answered this question on Quora, thus:
Well, being selfish, the American government might have asked “What’s in it for us?” as they had no dog in this fight. The USA was not part of the European political spectrum and had no binding alliances that required them to come to the military assistance of Belgium (which France and Britain did). They were protected from any German interference by the Atlantic Ocean and their own navy. Thus they weren’t morally obligated nor were they at risk. Given their isolationist stance, it would have taken enormous provocation to bring them in on the side of the Allies, rather than simply sustaining them with weapons and munitions. The Germans managed this, beginning with the sinking of the Lusitania, which they then tried to justify; not an auspicious event and it did not go down well in the USA. Britain and France were also quick to propagandise various German actions, such as the introduction of poison gas, which helped to further rile Americans. Finally you have the sheer insanity of the Zimmerman telegram, which pushed the USA over the edge and led to a declaration of war.
However! The American military was woefully weak. They had to create an army from practically nothing from April 1917 onwards, and as proven by the British example, creating a mobilised army of millions from scratch takes years. Having them arrive in France early in 1918 was quite an achievement and I’m sure the German High Command weren’t expecting them until 1919.
TLDR: Politics and mobilisation.
There you go, Conrad's stunning political and military insight on display. Art!
Take these chaps as an example. They're South Canadians, although you could be forgiven for thinking that they're from Perfidious Albion, thanks to using the British Brodie Pattern helmet and the Large Box Respirator. They are armed, you see, with the 1917 .30 rifle, and appear to have 'acquired' a Teuton light machine-gun to beef up their firepower. Art!
South Canadian tanks: made by the French. Art!
South Canadian artillery, also made by the French. The South Canadians didn't have the time or resources to create either of these weapons from scratch.
Then, of course, we have the matter of South Canada's late entry into the Second Unpleasantness - which is a matter for another day.
Korean Kultural Konsumption Kontinues
"Hotel Del Luna" has introduced reincarnation and the Grim Reaper as themes, in addition to classifying Korean ghosts, who come as simple ghosts, evil ghosts and vengeful ghosts. Becoming one of the two latter categories means your spirit is going to be destroyed and that's the end for you. Art!
Grim
The GR is a large, imposing chap you really don't want on your case.
It's taking so long to finish watching this series because each episode has now become 90 minutes long, essentially a film's-length, Last episode coming up!
Staggeringly Dull Yet Bright Domestic Moment
Conrad has swapped bulbs between my small desk lamp and the larger standing lamp. Art!
I did this because the LED bulb in the desk lamp kept flaring or cutting out completely, which did not please Your Humble Scribe since these things cost £3 each and I'd only had it for a month. However, once switched over it has behaved itself, and so has the bulb now in the desk lamp.
Not exactly a burning issue of the day; I just like to keep you informed.
"The Sea Of Sand"
Back on planet Earth, the Italians now in possession of the Forward Supply Dump at Mersa Martuba are beginning to have second thoughts ...
The surviving British soldiers were equally demented. The officer, Lieutenant Llewellyn, whose surname none of the Italians could pronounce properly, vigourously endorsed Sarah Smith's story: black glass vehicles that killed with a single touch and could only be defeated by armour-piercing ammunition. Corporal Mickleburgh only gave his name, unit and number, and thanks to his peculiar accent Tenente Dominione felt grateful that was all they got from him. Private Menzies might as well have been from Mars, since his Scottish accent prevented anyone from understanding him. Caporale Balduccio merely smiled and shrugged when the Tenente asked for a translation.
Still, their stories all tallied once written down. Peculiar black vehicles had emerged from the desert and attacked the Mersa Martuba garrison and prisoners and J force too. The pocket cemetery proved their point.
Very well. Here the Camionistas were, masters of the land. Avengers of Tenth Army's humiliation of the previous month. The big question was, what to do next?
Dominione knew that the Germans were due to sweep across this stretch of the desert in a few weeks, if even that long. The temptation to make sure they understood that the Regio Esercito had been this way already, successfully, was hard to resist.
Naughty Dominione!
Back To Bridges
Or, perhaps, "Horses for rail courses". Yesteryon we looked at the sweeping Glenfinnan Viaduct, set against a craggy and majestic backdrop of mountains and Loch Shiel. Art!
There is a persistent local legend that, during construction, a horse fell into one of the bridge piers. Eventually Professor Roland Paxton drilled boreholes into the only piers large enough to accommodate a horse, inserted a camera with a fisheye lens and found -
Nothing <sad face>.
Prof Paxton was not a man to give up easily. He carried out similar work at Loch Nan Uamh Bridge. Art!
Once again, nothing.
HOWEVER! This is Professor "Persisten" Paxton we're talking about. He came back to the above bridge in 2001 with radar-scanning technology and -
Found the remains of a horse and cart in the central pier. Vindicated!
Finally -
Let me finish up with another daft question as taken from Quora. Some of these questions are so stupid that they're either being posted for a bet or the Quoran had downed too many snifters of gin.
<sighs knowingly> Cheddar cheese is neither South Canadian nor British American. It comes from Cheddar, a town in Somerset, which makes it originate from This Sceptred Isle. Art!
Dog Buns. Now I'm hungry.
* Objectively, Australia is probably more deadly.
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