BOOJUM!: If I Were To Say 'TheraNos'

You'd Probably Roll Your Eyes And Tut

Which would be a splendid reason for me to inflict the Remote Nuclear Tormentor upon you. Not to be confused with the Remote Nuclear Detonator. The RNT merely torments, not disintegrates, so I can inflict more pain later on when ~~bored~~ righteously angry at your scrofulitic behaviour. Art!

RNT. Also functions as bottle-opener and hammer

You'd also be forgiven for thinking Your Humble Scribe was wittering on about the scam firm created by Elizabeth Holmes, Theranos. You may remember it: the promise of blood tests using only a single drop of blood, which Conrad was all for, as we know I am a massive coward, especially when it concerns my own blood. Art!

She's not laughing now, because she's in prison for fraud.

Here an aside. Conrad thinks she was woefully naive and underprepared. Rather than waiting for things to collapse, she should have quietly vanished with her ill-gotten billions and had camouflaging cosmetic surgery, as well as having a couple of alternate identities established. Then settle down in a country that doesn't have an extradition treaty with South Canada*, and B

ANYWAY enough of asides. Did you pay sufficient attention to the capitalisation in today's title? I bet you didn't. 'Thera Nos' and yes I cheated by omitting the space. Sue me.

We have been here before, as Conrad has explored the volcanic devastation when the island of Thera exploded in circa 1,600 BC.

BOOJUM!: I Am Going To Get These Burned Or Broken Bridges In Somehow

Yes, we are back on the destruction of an ancient civilisation again, as referenced in "S70". The illo above doesn't give a proper sense of what happened, because - here the 'Nos' as an abbreviation for 'Numbers' comes in - the island blew apart in a 7.5 gigaton equivalent explosion. To put this in perspective and use more numbers, that's 500,000 times more powerful than the Hiroshima nuke. The Thera explosion, in fact, was one of the biggest volcanic explosions in history, dwarfing the more famous Krakatoa explosion by a factor of 3,000. Art!

Yes, that's Crete underneath the path that the volcanic fallout would have taken. In reality the ash fell over most of the island, more in some parts than others. Art!

The airport symbol is at Akrotiri, which was slowly buried in ash after Thera went pop, slowly enough for the population to realise the gig was up, it was time to get out of Dodge and vamoose, if you'll excuse the South Canadian slang. Within days Akrotiri circa 1,600 BC was completely buried in volcanic ash, preserving it as at the moment of abandonment. Art!

It's an ill hurricane-strength pyroclastic-fuelled wind that blows no good. Yes, Thera was now a rim of shattered islands blasted down to bare rock, and the Cretans of Akrotiri were left with only what they could carry, BUT! archaeologists were ever so grateful that they got a pristine preserved town to explore and investigate.

In my previous blog about Thera, a.k.a. Santorini, I made mention that the Minoan civilisation on Crete was badly hit by the explosion; the island's northern shores were hit by post-explosion tsunamis, destroying coastal villages and towns. Later, the enormous fall of ash covered field of crops to a depth of yards, crippling harvests and bringing famine in it's wake. Art!

One matter of primary importance about the Thera explosion is the date, which was still a matter of debate in 2001 when "S70" was published, and which hasn't been resolved almost a quarter of a century later. There is a range of dates deemed possible, from circa 1,650 BC to 1,500 BC, so I have plumped for 'around 1,600 BC' as a reasonable compromise.

Is this even relevant? O I thought you'd never ask! Why yes, yes it is. You see, Minoan culture on Crete went into a decline about 1,500 BC, which early archaeologists took to mean this is when Thera blew up. However - first appearance today! - other esoteric dating technologies such as tree-rings and ice-cores - Art!

- suggest a much earlier catastrophe, closer to 1,628 BC. "S70" mentions deep-sea cores but only in context of measuring the extent of Thera ash, with no mention of dates. Go off and knock yourself out Googling for a deep-sea sedimentary core date if you want.

If the apocalyptic explosion did occur in 1,628 BC, then Minoan civilisation bimbled on happily for over a century afterwards until going into terminal decline. Which date is correct? I fear we may never know for certain, unless we can persuade that chap with the big blue box to do a bit of exploring. Art!

Just as a post-script, the Minoan capital and palace at Knossos was over 270 feet above sea level, and five miles - sorry, five PROUD IMPERIAL miles - inland, which is why it didn't get levelled.

Thank Heavens For Armoured Underwear!

Back in the Olden Days (2013 - 2016) Your Humble Scribe was forever getting bitten by the Coincidence Hydra, a repellent beast with seven heads and teeth like steak knives. For every coincidence, up it popped, gnawing on my nethers.

Until!

Cast iron and rivets

They have a double-layer of cotton on the inside, for comfort.

SO! I was able to laugh at CH when the following came up. Art!

OF COURSE when I come back to it, the comment from Joe has gone. He Commented that he'd seen a working M13/40 on Crete earlier this year.

Bah! Facebook. Just one more thing that will be worked over lightly with a cattle-prod when I take over.

Whilst On The Subject Of Marders -

We were yesteryon, anyway, which is close enough. Just to set the background, in the Second Unpleasantness, the Teutons were always short of kit, which meant if they could possibly re-use or re-purpose an item, they did. Thus the Marder I, which was a Teuton anti-tank gun mated to a French artillery tractor. Art!

Rather improvised in appearance, and with no roof to the crew compartment, and lacking any degree of armour, it was nevertheless a whacking big gun now made mobile on a tracked chassis. Art!

Marder II

This is the version sporting a 75 mm Teuton anti-tank gun, mounted on a Panzer II chassis, the Pz II being utterly outclassed in terms of firepower mere days into Operation Barbarossa. Art!

The Marder III M version, which has a crew compartment, as compared to the original III or III H, which merely had the gun shield, and which must have been utterly miserable to operate in bad weather. These versions were mounted on the obsolete Pz 38 (t) chassis, the Czech design that the Teutons kept in service to the end of the war. Art!

This is the Bundeswehr's Marder, of 1971 vintage. This is an Infantry Fighting Vehicle, NOT A TANK despite the tracks and small cannon-armed turret.

In case you were wondering, and even if you weren't, 'Marder' is Teuton for 'Marten'. the arboreal carnivore.

Let's Poke The Orange Land Whale Some More!

The blog content creator that keeps on giving. Well, until he either keels over from a heart attack or goes to prison in a fetching orange jump suit that matches his makeup. Art!

Has he flip-flopped again and is now calling the Epstein Files fake? after bloviating about how he had nothing to hide and it was all nonsense, believe me I have an honest face, O look a flying saucer. Art!

The US House of Representatives has voted 427-1 to release all files related to Jeffrey Epstein

I wonder who didn't vote For? Ah, 'Clay Higgins', whom looks to be trying to <ahem> muddy the waters. Do you see wh - O you do. Art!

First of all, he cannot do that. He'd like to but he isn't God Emperor Trump just yet. And my my my, for someone who has nothing to hide and the whole thing is a hoax, he seems to be extraordinarily thin-skinned about the Epstein Files.

As an aside, allow me to copy-in a typical sardonic comment from 'WarrensBuffet', who has been mockingly referencing the Files for months.