Yes, We Are Going To Be Addressing Our Usual Gloomy Themes
Fear, Death, Passing The Port The Wrong Way, all that stuff, except we're going to be reporting another person's take on morbid matters; Stephen Kotkin. Art!
The video has only just appeared on Youtube, and disingenuously doesn't advertise that it's actually from September 2012, which makes the contents all the more poignant, considering what's been happening in Europe after that date. If you've seen a contemporary photo of Ol' Steve, you'd notice that he has less hair than in the first picture, and it is as snowy white as Conrad's.
RULE 1: Violence And Repression. Ol' Steve quotes the usual dictatorial suspects: Ruffia, The Populous Dictatorship and also includes Singapore and Dubai, which is rather a stop-and-check moment. But valid. Art!
An arresting event?
The forces of repression need to be 'reliable, well-fed thugs', who are prepared to go into action at the drop of a hat or the press of a button. Reliable because you can't have them jib at beating, arresting and torturing civilian protesters. Well-fed because that shows you are investing in their physical well-being and that you can manufacture a convincing simulacrum of concern for them. Art!
Actually, this is a matter of concern for Ruffia and Putinpot. I have mentioned a BBC article from 2023 which mentioned how low morale in the Mordorvian police force was, and it hasn't gotten any better. Officers were leaving for better-paying jobs with infinitely less hassle, no longer having to deal with an idiot public who reported their neighbours for having blue curtains and a yellow flower in the window. Currently there is a shortfall of 275,000 police in Ruffia, meaning that the regime's ability to inflict violence and repression has been diminished.
RULE 2: Cash Flow. This needs to be consistent and reliable, delivered via agencies such as diamonds or hydrocarbons. Ol' Steve also mentioned Kyrgyzstan exploiting international aid funding, which was new to me. Bad Kyrgyrs! Naughty Kyrgyrs! No biscuit for you! Art?
Authoritarian regimes are expensive to run and tend to function on a cash economy, which is becoming ever more true of Mordorvia, where the wary citizen orcses have recently withdrawn ₽1 trillion (or about $35 billion) for fear of it being confiscated by the state. Plus, dictators have to fund all those weapons they need, and Steve jokingly included mistresses as an operational expense; they need fur coats and jewels.
To hurt an authoritarian regime, you need to hit it's cash flow, such as blowing up it's oil refineries, and deny access to the international banking system, such as removing it from SWIFT. Both of which have been imposed on the Sanjak Of Novi Pazar, meaning th
- only testing. Both of which have been imposed on Ruffia. Art!
'Gazpromneft, benzina nyet*'
Patronage is also costly, with each level of the regime needing to kick money upstairs to their superiors, who will then provide protection and opportunity. No kickbacks means eventual prosecution for corruption or a flight out of a window.
Since the value and revenue from commodities can be volatile, dictators have alternative back-up plans. Steve cites the Nork regime; when they resort to eating each other during famines, Pyongyang carries out a 'missile test' to hit the Sea Of Japan and blackmail more 'emergency funding', which The Only Fat Man In North Korea immediately converts to alcohol and cigarettes.
RULE 3: De-Mobilising And Counter-Mobilising The Opposition. In plain terms, raise the cost of being a political opponent of the regime, to such an extent that people lose interest or commitment. The regime needs to be able to take countermeasures on the streets, to negate their political opposition. Art!
Steve's example here was the Iranian presidential elections of 2009. Up to 3 million protestors took to the streets, to absolutely no result, apart from the (counter-mobilised) Revolutionary Guard (reliable well-fed thugs) shooting hundreds of them dead. In Mordorvia in 2022 protesters were arrested and jailed when the Special Idiotic Operation began, thanks to the enormous police presence - at the time. How they would cope today is a matter of debate.
Since I don't want the whole of this blog to about Steve's 6 Rules, I am going to end on Number 3. Don't worry, we will be back at this tomorrow. I bet you can hardly wait.
More Plot Holes In 'Greenland'
I had this revelation whilst walking Edna, so you can thank her for my Thinking Time.
Now, the time when the first 'fragment' of the comet Clarke hits Tampa is what I thought was mid-afternoon, but is actually rather later. Art!
Got that?
The planet still turns, regardless of giant sky rocks falling upon it. Night falls as the Garrity family tries to get to Robins Air Force Base, they get separated and John witnesses other fragments falling and hitting urban areas. Art!
THIS SHOULD NOT BE HAPPENING. South Canada is now on the opposite side of the planet to where Clarke's fragments are impacting; it is protected by the entire bulk of Earth Perhaps these aren't fragments at all but Chinese or Ruffian missiles, which they intend to use before they get destroyed? And other desperate scriptwriting gambits.
Whatever. Of course, I may be overthinking this .....
The Workhorse Of Course
Or, back to BOVINGTON TANK MUSEUM. Art!
 |
| With expedition members for scale |
This is the Teuton Panzer Mark IV. As a handy recognition guide, it had 4 return rollers on the hull, and the Panzer Mark III had only 3. As mentioned in the title, it was the Teuton panzer arm's workhorse, produced all through the war and served on all fronts. The version you see here is the up-gunned one with a 'long' 75 mm gun, spaced armour around the turret and more frontal armour. It was also common for them to have 'Schurzen' that protected the hull sides and running gear from Sinister anti-tank rifle rounds. Art!
It was rare for these 'Skirts' to all be present, as they were quite flimsy and were torn off by any kind of rough environment encountered, such as trees or buildings.
The sharp-eyed amongst you will have noticed that the spaced armour around the turret gives it a curved profile, much akin to that of the Tiger tank, which often led to a Mark IV being mis-identified as it's much more formidable cousin.
Someone's Fee-Fees Are Hurt
Heaven only knows what goes on in Donold Judas Trump's head. Conrad can guess that 'ME! ME! ME!' is a large component of it, also 'GIVE ME! ME WANT! MINE!'. It is pretty certain that reality and he have only a passing vague acquaintance. As evidence - Art!
I guarantee this never happened. It's just Boorish Orange Oaf Himself trying to make the Nobel Peace Prize all about him, as when he claimed that Queenie had 'secretly' knighted him, which drivel he appears to have forgotten about as it was more than a week ago.
Clearly, DJ Tango and his lickspittle minions know nothing about the NPP. To be in with a chance of winning in October 2025, you need to be nominated by February 2025.
Clearly, DJ Tango and his lickspittle minions know nothing about the NPP. To be in with a chance of winning in October 2025, you need to be nominated by February 2025.
Yes, it's the same paragraph printed twice, because I think it needs to be repeated for it to make sense to the senile sex-pest and his sycophants.
Here's One I Am Going To Steal
SK Media is one of the people I follow on Twitter. Interesting chap. He has a only infrequently-updated Youtube channel, which is still worth checking out for his roasting of Wehraboos. Why infrequent? Well since 2022 he's been in the Ukrainian army, working with a drone unit. This led to hilariously stupid Ruffian bots trolling him and saying 'Why don't you join the Ukrainian army?' and we all had to take a shot of gin when they posted this.
ANYWAY neither he nor I am fond of Elong Tusk, and SK coined a new term for him - '', which I will definitely be stealing in the future. Art!
* 'No petrol'
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