Which have been simmering since 11:00. Conrad is not even sure what kind of beans they are, just that they've been sitting in a jar in the cupboard for years, and may have been used in blind baking at points in the past. Does this affect how long it takes to boil them? Because you can't take chances with undercooked beans. The deadly toxin Ricin, after all, is derived from castor beans. Art!
Mentioning ricin allows me to use a still from 'Breaking Bad', and Lydia, whom you see here, is adding not merely 'Stevia' to her coffee. Hmmm. Conrad unsure at what temperature ricin denatures.
ANYWAY my point was that I've had to keep popping down to see how the beans are cooking, and - they're still cooking. I'll keep you informed.
Art!
This saturninley-suave spox* is George Barros, from the 'Institute for the Study of War', which entity puts out excellent analyses of the Special Idiotic Operation. Note George's awesomely groomed moustache, which is a wonder next to Conrad's unkempt bush, alth
ANYWAY AGAIN, George was being interviewed by the Ulsterman Phillip Ingram, on 'Times Radio', which is a double misnomer as 'The Times' is a paper publication and this is in full colour.
You can tell George is well-informed because vatniks in the Comments all whine about the subject matter or what brand of 'tash-wax he uses. He made a very interesting observation that many have forgotten: when the SIO began, there was no general mobilisation and Putin sent 120 'Battalion Tactical Groups' into Ukraine. These were composed of the best, most experienced and professional Ruffian soldiers, whose units were, using George's inventive language, 'eviscerated and destroyed.' Art!
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| BTGs. Bloody, Terrible, Gone. |
They have vanished from mention as of 2023. I believe they were the brainchild of General Shoigu (by profession a chemist), who has also vanished from the headlines of late.
ANYWAY AGAIN George also pointed out that both sides have severe problems trying to attain operational manoeuvrability, thanks to the presence of drones that can operate 5 to 10 kilometres in the rear of the enemy**, both as spies in the sky and what I like to call 'intelligent artillery shells'. Art!
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| Westland Wisp, British UAV from 1976 |
George makes an interesting analogy with the Western Front from early 1915 to early 1918, where new tactics and technologies had crippled manoeuvre warfare.
Excuse me, bean check.
Beans are done. Art!
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| It only took 5 hours |
George pooh-poohs the debunked 'Lions led by donkeys' myth, saying that in the attacks taking place over this stalemated period, both sides were attempting new tactics and weapons to overcome trench deadlock. Well observed, George. Art!
I just finished reading this memoir today. It's by an Australian infantryman and recounts his time spent in the Australian Imperial Force in France, from 1916 and the ghastly attritional bloodbath on the Somme, to almost the war's end in October 1918. Why do I mention this now? Because George mentioned that 'The Allies discovered how to restore manoeuvre to the battlefield'. The Teutons had tried with their 'Hutier' tactics, involving elite stormtroopers and a carefully orchestrated pre-attack bombardment. Art!
This worked, up to a point, but was very expensive in the irreplaceable stormtroopers and attacks inevitably ran out of both steam and men.
On the other hand, the Allies, under Field Marshal Foch, developed a variety of all-arms warfare that incorporated infantry, artillery (as with the Teutons), tanks (which the Hun had about 7 of), aircraft, cavalry, armoured cars, signals and supply units. The emphasis was on 'steel not flesh', even if the flesh had to still go in, as described by Downing (the author of above, do keep up!). He and his battalion took part in the Battle of Amiens on August 8th 1918:
"Nevertheless, except for the fighting at dawn, it was more like a picnic than a battle. There were few of the depressing concomitants of a major action - rain, tumbled waves of earth, enemy barrages, mutilation." Art!
Another thing that militated against the Hun was the secrecy established and kept on the Allied side, what we now know as 'Operational Security'. Everything was moved at night, then camouflaged to remain unseen during daytime. Fighter aircraft, known then as 'scouts', kept the Luftstreitkrafte away and prevented reconnaissance. Downing's battalion did not receive maps or aerial photographs until the night before the attack. When it came, it was an horrid surprise to the Teutons - much like a certain invasion of the Kursk Oblast in more recent times.
How the problems of manoeuvre on the 21st century battlefield are solved remains to be seen. Watch this space!
Conrad's Culinary Creations
I have been making various recipes from my Ukrainian Cookbook, usually those that don't require ingredients I don't have nor the equivalent of. Previously I've used streaky bacon, Polish curd cheese and coriander instead of dill, which is no great hardship as I love the taste of coriander. Art!
This is Ukrainian sauerkraut, which has carrot and dill to give it extra flavour, made over a week ago, and recently taste-tested. Verdict: not bad at all! Art!
A colourful consoimmé called 'Pork Belly Stew'. I've never cooked Pork Belly before so had to guess how long it fried for. Again, the taste-test verdict is very tasty. I had fresh coriander herb to use up, which explains the green bits.
"The War Illustrated Edition 210 6th July 1945"
Let us cross fingers and hope the blurriness doesn't apply to these illos. Art!
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| "The Relief Programme for Hun-Wrecked Holland" |
Quite presentable. That picture at top is the flooding caused by the bally Hun causing flooding, in the hopes of slowing down the Allies and generally causing mischief. At middle port a Dutch housewife gazes at relief food provided by AMGOT in Utrecht. To middle starboard, this is Princess Juliana - who later went on to become the adored Dutch Queen - accepting a cheque for £1,100 pounds, raised by the British 49th Division for the Dutch Red Cross. At bottom, the official face of Perfidious Albion's Red Tape Division; denying entry since they don't have an official pass.
Here's One I Can Get Behind
Another case of the Dog Buns! media putting up a click-bait picture and tagline, without telling you, Dear Reader, what the film ACTUALLY IS.
Bah! It annoys me. It annoys me a whole lot. Art!
In case you were wondering, and even if you weren't, this is 'Minority Report', Steven Spielberg's engaging take on the Philip K. Dick short story, done with a great deal of work on the background to 'Pre-Crime' and what the future might look like quite soon. Well, the self-driving cars have already arrived, Conrad unsure if he also wants people with precognitive abilities, too.
Take that, 'Daily Mail', you pikers.
You Gotta Be <Swear>ing Kidding!
50 Brownie points if you recognised this quote from "The Thing", where Palmer, the stoner, catches sight of Norris' head sprouting legs and eyestalks and walking off, nonchalantly, before being barbequed.
ANYWAY that's not at all what I wanted to talk about. 'The Critical Drinker', author and Youtube vlogger, whom hates nearly all films, bar some surprising exceptions, came out with a comment that made my eyes come out on stalks, too. Art!
This is a Disney+ streaming show that I've never seen and don't care one whit about. Sum total of it's cost = $650 million, for all of 12 episodes, or $54 million per episode.
Dog Buns, you could make 3 blockbuster films for that price!
Once again, implicit proof that Disney is a money-laundering tax-dodge.
That's all, folks, gotta go store them beans away.
* 'Spox' is South Canadian media slang for 'Spokesperson'
** Ukraine uses up to 20,000 drones per day.
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