No, That's Not A Typo Or A Copy From Yesteryon
Buckle up, gentle readers, because we're going on a bit of a wild ride that covers 150 years and one of the world's largest defined regions, as well as an illustration of what 'soft power' can achieve when taking the long view. Art!
No, no, they're just very small people
Because 150 year-old treaties are a bit dull to look at.
Okay: Siberia. Unless you're up on your geography, it may not be apparent that most of Ruffia is actually Siberia, an immense region that lies beyond the Ural Mountains and which is seen by western Ruffians as 'The East'. Allow me to cattle-prod Art into wakefulness -
This is where all that oil and gas comes from, as well as timber, coal and mineral ores. Getting at these resources is problematic, because of that dotted red line representing the Arctic Circle.
ANYWAY I have another map for you, because whilst the Ruffians currently control Siberia, 'twas not always the case. They have a neighbour with long-term plans, who used to control a lot of this territory. Art!
Yes, China. A lot of Siberia belonged to China, until the Opium Wars from 1840 onwards, where Britain (yes us again!), France, Japan and Russia all took to carving out great swathes of Chinese territory following military defeats. The Chinese collectively called these the 'Unfair Treaties' and their rancour has simmered for over a century about them.
They have begun remedying this process of imperial conquest, but subtly, and with a long-term plan that requires only commercial exploitation, not need for armed struggle. The demographics are all against the Ruffians: Siberia, which occupies 75% of Russia, has a population of only 38 million in total, and only 6 million along the 2,740 mile border. The Chinese have 90 million. Here's a telling quote from NYT correspondent Joe Jacobs: "With intermarriage, trade and investment across that border, Siberians have realized that, for better or for worse, Beijing is a lot closer than Moscow." We'll come back to that. Art!
That's the Imperial Arch in the border city of Blagoveshchenk, restored in 2014 with the Ruffians boasting that the lands along the Amur river had been, were and would always be, Ruffian.
Not so fast, Peter The Average!
You should surely know by now that China's economy dwarfs the Ruffian one; even before the Special Idiotic Operation it was ten times larger, and is probably at least twelve times bigger by now. They're not constrained by sanctions and shortages; au contraire, they are able to exploit Siberia's natural resources at considerable profit to themselves.
A Siberian native has posted a verrrry interesting list on Quora of what they see about them in terms of Chinese inter-penetration of Ruffian culture and business, all without a shot being fired. I shall list some of them:
1) Direct leasing of land to China, for a period of 49 years, which period can be extended. Given how easy it is to bribe Ruffian officials, this land will effectively become part of China.
2) Very large Chinese timber operations are taking place in Siberia, with the lumber being exported to China. Art!
ALL YOUR TIMBER ARE BELONG TO US
3) Chinese mining and refining operations are taking place on a large scale across Siberia, with the refined products being exported to China. Art!
4) There are many markets, cafes and restaurants owned by Chinese. Many Siberian businesses have Chinese shareholders. Lots of farms are run by Chinese.
5) Chinese students come to study in Siberian cities, then stay on after graduating and settle down.
The poster, Sayan Zoriktuev, pointed out that China hasn't waited for Russia to become weak to take over Siberia, they are already there. Art!
Whilst Bloaty Gas Tout has been obsessing with rebuilding Soviet Union 2.0 in Western Ruffia, the Chinese have quietly and insidiously moved into the East and made themselves indispensable. It's quite possible that the impoverished successors of Putin will, in a generation, formally sign over Siberia for a mess of pottage since they have no other option save to recognise the truth.
Well, pilgrims, that's a whistle-stop tour of modern geography and trade, hope you enjoyed it as much as Puffy Petrol Pimp hated it.
An Oxymoron
Better-known as a contradiction. Yes, we are back on the last gasp of "Tora! Tora! Tora!", which for some of you will come as a welcome relief. Okay, here are the photos I took of the American ships at Pearl after being attacked. Art!
These 'ships' are, in reality, very large-scale miniatures, which is where the contradiction comes in. They were approximately 1/15 scale, which is enormous for a model ship. They needed to be that size as they were going to be blown up, and two things you cannot scale in films are water effects and flames. So, big ships for big bangs. Their scenes were shot with special cameras working at 15 times normal speed, so when played back at normal speed, the models had a convincing gravitas and heft to them.
A Minor Yet Amusing Point
I have finished reading "A Very Stable Genius", about the Trump administration up to the beginning of 2020, and it proves that Trump is anything but stable with an IQ akin to that of a seven-year old. Art!
I raise this point because I came across a description of him that had me laughing out loud: "Darth Marmalade". Call me petty but I think it's hilarious.
No, it's nothing to do with <shudders> Politics, because he's not Prez any more. Except perhaps in his head.
"The Sea Of Sand"
The Doctor has just witnessed the death of the bio-vore aristocrat Lord Url, after escaping from captivity.
‘In such a case, one practices
discretion, that part which bests valour,’ he mused to the uncaring desert around
him. He made a direct path to the
distant sea, intending to hit the shore and then work south to the trans-mat
complex.
Bio-vore
society, undergoing convulsions, interrupted his progress. The Doctor managed to get to the dunes that
overlooked the tired, shallow sea before meeting any more inhabitants of
Wastelandworld, as he now dubbed it.
Suddenly,
a group of bio-vores appeared in front of him, looming with silent menace, an
ambush out of the sands. When he turned
to retreat, another group stood behind him, looking equally threatening.
‘Stay
your hand!’ called one of the aliens.
‘This is the alien prophet. He is
called “Thedoctor”. Do not harm him.’
Feeling
absurdly flattered, the Doctor found it hard to avoid preening a little. He bowed to the aliens, a gesture that
impressed them enormously.
‘Thank
you! Thank you, and to whom am I
indebted?’
‘You
can call me Imgelissa. You, Thedoctor,
bear a charmed life. Not less than an
hour ago, you were being led to the Place of Execution.’
Tapping
the side of his nose, the Doctor grinned back.
Watch it with the smiling, Doctor.
Behold!
Art?
This mighty metal monster is a Vickers Medium Mk. II. When I saw the photo I thought the main gun was unusually large in calibre, and it is, because it's the Close Support version mounting a 3.7" howitzer. The one behind is the more usual model. You can see the side-mounted Vickers machine gun at the rear, which was complemented by another on the other side. They were in service during the Thirties, being retired before actually seeing combat in the Second Unpleasantness.
Why do I bring this up? O, I thought you'd never ask!
Because I was watching "Things To Come" last night, and taking photographs. Art!
The film was made in 1936, when the Vickers Medium Mk. II was the very acme of British tank design. Yes, things were that bad.
Finally -
I shall shortly be making a constitutional stroll into Lesser Sodom, and will get the chance to get acquainted to an old pair of Crocs. My esteemed blue ones had to be binned yesterday; their soles were full of holes and if I went out in the wet I came back home with wet, dirty socks. Amen. I should have taken a photo. Too late now, they're in a bag in the bin.
Toodle-ooh!
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