We Have An Insufficiency Of Guardians

This Is The Obverse Of Our Recent Theme About Guardian Angels 

Which then became a discourse about angels and all things angel-related.  Although I seem to dimly recall one of the novels we read in the fifth year at school was - Art!

     This is the edition we were issued with.  Conrad remembers it being dull and uninteresting with no exotic green-skinned alien princess, a total absence of laser gun-battles and a lack of interstellar starships.  O callow youth!

     ANYWAY that being said, I'm going to be going in for 'Guard' instead, as there's lots of possibilities there.  The word itself comes from the Old French 'garder', meaning 'To protect' and has possible Germanic roots.  Art!

     Let us start with the more mundane.  Here's a British Rail guard, whom is responsible for the overall safety, security and daily operations on a train, seeing that doors are only opened and closed safely, assisting passengers, disseminating information and helping anyone with impairments.  Art!

HOUSEHOLD GUARDS: Going from 1 m.p.h. to 100 in the space of an item.  The 'Household Division' are the British Guards regiments that defend the house of Kingie, namely the cavalry regiments The Life Guards and The Horse Guards - that chap looking as if he's going to kebab a tourist is a cavalryman.  Then there are the infantry regiments: the Coldstream Guards, the Grenadier Guards - both of whom cordially hate each other, the Grenadier's are said to be paid or fed first or last, never second to the Coldstreams; then there are the Scots, Irish and Welsh Guards.  Art!

     These bad boys are from 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, Helmand Province, Afghanistan.  Gasp!  Yes, they perform ceremonial duties at Buck House but are also front line soldiers.  I could fill this whole blog with the history of the Guards Brigade, later the Guards Division, as well as the Guards Armoured Division.  But I will be merciful and abstain.  One last anecdote is that the Guards Division was treated by the Teutons on the Western Front during the First Unpleasantness with considerable respect and deference, as they considered it to be the best British division whether in attack or defence.

     There are some horribly amusing video clips out there of silly tourists nearly getting marched over by Guardsmen going about their business.  Madam! this eight-foot tall man carrying an automatic weapon with a big pointy stick on it is not going to politely step aside so you take a photo.  Art!

SHOUTS LOUDLY IN BRITISH

IRON GUARD: The original Romanian name was 'Garda de Fier' and this was a Fascist movement in - you may be ahead of me here - Romania in the Thirties and early Forties.  It was fuelled and propelled by anti-Semitism and, surprise surprise, nationalism.  They were also avowedly Christian, although of the kind that thinks the First Commandment is optional.  King Carol II detested them and ensured they were kept out of power.  Art!

     Their rise to power and influence is much too long to detail here, so I shall just say that they tried, unsuccessfully, to revolt and seize power in January 1941, whereupon Prime Minister Antonescu used the army to crush them.  Art!

NATIONAL GUARD: Surprise!  There was a French National Guard established after their Revolution in July 1789, which eventually rebelled and had to be put down using brute force by Napoleon.  Art!

     They were a citizen militia, meaning somewhat of a rabble.  Art!

     The South Canadian National Guard, whom are definitely not a rabble.  They are volunteers who train one weekend per month and two weeks over summer.  They have a verrrry broad brief that includes aid during national disasters, of which South Canada has a plethora, civil support and potential service overseas.  A lot of these people have already served in the armed forces and know their chops.  Art!

HOME GUARD: Not to be confused with House Guards.  This organisation was originally dubbed the 'Local Defence Volunteers' as they were - you may be ahead of me here - volunteers whom defended a location close to where they lived.  Brought into existence in the fervid summer of 1940 when This Sceptred Isle feared a Teuton invasion imminently.  Art!

     The most famous Home Guard unit is one that didn't actually exist: the platoon based in Walmington-on-sea, as pictured above.  If you get a chance, do watch it; it encapsulates the spirit of the times.  I would have used 'zeitgeist' but don't think Captain Mainwaring would approve.

     ANYWAY AGAIN the LDV and then Home Guard were mocked for their poverty in equipment, as the regular army had very much first call on military kit.  HOWEVER - O that word again! - a lot of the HG were veterans of the First Unpleasantness with a lot of experience to draw upon.  Art!

     Such as introducing an 18" sword bayonet into the opposition's giblets.

That List Of 20 Works On The Classical World

We are now at Number 6, and a curious title that I've been aware of for some time, and which tickled my curiosity gland.  Art!

Published 1997

     Daisy, the lady compiling this list of books, stated that she became aware of this work when her father was reading it, all of almost thirty years ago.

     Davidson sets out to prove, in an engaging style, that the 'consuming passions' of the Greeks in ancient Athens were, respectively, fish and sex, the latter obtained in brothels.  The Hellenes treated prostitution as a commercial activity, one seeking to make a profit, regulated by local or state bodies and utterly prosaic.  I guess it takes all sorts.

     Look how good I am at not buying this book*.

Cause And Effect

If you have a memory longer than that of a goldfish, you'll recall that Ukraine recently turned a set of Ruffian data centres into ash and clinker.  This instantly cleansed teh Interwebz of Mordorvian bot farms and they've not recovered yet, as they were being used to boost and amplify Ruffian propaganda talking points.

     Art!

     Nigel Farrago, The Nasty Little Man, may now have become The Nasty Little Irrelevant Man, as his robot minions can no longer promote him.  

     Don't worry, he will continue to sincerely and passionately say whatever the FSB pay him to say.

     No, this item isn't Politics - it's gloating.

OH WOW GOOD LORD!

I just happened to look at the BBC News webpage, and what do I espy?  Art!

     I commented on MJH only yesteryon about a song from his novel 'The Centauri Device', which I read as a teenager a good fifty years ago and which I still have a copy of.  You can regard it as 'Anti-space opera' if you like, it still rollicks along at a fair pace with plenty of action and I wonder if any film studio has been bonkers enough to option it?

     ANYWAY ANYWAY I am delighted to see MJH get a prestigious award, hopefully with a lot of money attached to it and I Say Mister Film Studio, Have You Seen This Book?

Shortening The List Of Favourites

A chore I have to carry out every so often as I tend to accumulate lists of Bookmarks or Favourites, which then have to be whittled down.  Art!

O noes more Zeppelins!

     I include this short as it begins with a very little-known aspect of conflict in the First Unpleasantness.  Art!

August 11 1918

     What you see here is a Sopwith Camel taking off from a lighter in the North Sea, an AI version of an event that actually happened.  The idea here was that aircraft on lighters, dozens of miles from shore, could intercept the zepps over the sea, long before they got to within range of land-based aircraft.  Art!

     It worked on this occasion, but it was very much a hit-or-miss affair, relying heavily on sheer chance to manage an interception.

Finally -

I cannot leave you without another ghastly picture of the Flabby Fraudulent Felon.  Art!

     Jovus Drokk, he looks like one of the monsters from 'The Twilight Zone' with less empathy.

*  But my palms are sweating.0

Following On A Theme

NO! I Do Not Mean The Byzantine Military District 'Theme'

Which is probably pronounced differently.  You've been paying too much attention to my working through that list of 20 works on classical civilisations, haven't you? and aren't I good for not buying any of them*.  Art!

Proof I am not raving*

      We are, instead, talking about 'An idea or topic expanded in a discourse, discussion, etc.' thank you CCED.  Every home should have one.

     ANYWAY we recently touched on the subject of 'Guardian Angels' and I got thrown an example in Youtube from 'The Twilight Zone', which was most welcome.  I also realised that I'd omitted a guardian angel from one of the most famous examples of the same.  Art!

          Meet Clarence Odbody, Angel Second Class - if you think this is a bit corny you know nothing about the heirarchy structure of angels - who lacks wings and has been trying for 200 years to gain them.  Clarence is a bit ham-fisted but his heart is in the right place.  Art!

"It's a wonderful life, Mary!"

     I can pretty much guarantee it's going to be broadcast or streamed this Christmas as it's the 80th anniversary of it's release.  DO NOT MISS IT.  Or there will be trouble.  Conrad has spoken.  Art!

     Then there are these chaps (and chapesses): the Guardian Angels.  Note capitalisation.  They started in Noo Yawk in 1979, when crime was high and police were low, acting as volunteer crime prevention, riding on the subway and doing stag at railway stations.  Members are totally forbidden from carrying weapons and have broadened their mission to include feeding the homeless, acting as youth mentors and advising on first aid and CPR.  Ya gotta love the Big Apple.

     ANYWAY - O excuse me, I need to go sort out some laundry.  My rock 'n' roll lifestyle, hmmmm?

     Back to Angels.  I am not going to go into depth on their theological background, as otherwise this would be another Single Item Blog.  According to my 'Brewer's', the definitive work on angels was published in the 5th century by 'Pseudo-Dionysus'.  Art!

     Under his convention, there are 9 orders of angels, arranged in triads.  NO!  Not the Chinese criminal gangs: groups of three.  Stay on point!

     Where were we?  O yes.  There are Seraphim, Cherubim and Thrones; then come Dominions, Virtues and Poweres; and lastly and most lowly are Principalities, Archangels and Angels.  So, Clarence really is at the bottom of the ladder.

     I say, that triggers a memory in the old grey cells.  Art!

     FYI, Jill has written four well-regarded 'sequels' to the original Lord Peter Wimsey novels that Dot wrote, and congratulate me on not buying any of them*.

     Back to Angels.

Angel Cake: being a sponge cake made without egg yolks, oil or butter, and which is consequently light, fluffy and airy, all three of which are aspects of angels.  Art!

Taunt me with what I cannot have!

Angel Water: A cosmetic used in Spain, originally mostly using Angelica Archangelica, an aromatic plant.  Later versions used roses, trefoil and lavender - Wonder Wifey once tellingly described lavender as being 'essence of old lady's bottom' but she may have mellowed since.  Art!

Yours for only $24.00!

Angel Dust: A nickname for phencyclidine, or phencyclohexyl piperidine, or PCP, a drug once touted as an anaesthetic but which was discontinued thanks to side effects like suicidal tendencies, paranoia, seizures and coma.  People who seem desperately bored of life like to smoke it, before it smokes them  I cannot find out why it was ever graced with the name 'Angel dust' as it seems more of an 'Imp's inhalation' to me.

     I do now understand about the mention made in 'The Centauri Device' of a song being played live called 'Phencyclidine Dream'.  Art!

One of the best sci-fi covers evah

Angels On Horseback: I had never heard of this dish before.  Thank you 'Brewer's' for broadening my horizons.  A savoury dish of oysters wrapped in rashers of bacon and served on toast.  Probably a tad pricey to become part of my daily breakfast.  Art!

     Hmmm about £2 per oyster.  You know, I may keep an eye open for them at the next weekly shop <wallet squeaks in anguish>.  i wonder, do you grill, roast or fry them?

Angel Of The Schools: St. Thomas Aquinas, whom I have heard of and am vaguely aware of.  He was a theologian of the 13th century, whose intellect and erudition were so well-regarded that his teachings were declared to be the basis of modern theology by the Pope in 1879.  Way to go Tom!  Especially since he'd been worm-fodder for 600 years by then.  Art!

     I think we'll knock Angels on the head for today, all the more since we have more to educate you about and I need to go check on the1 tumble-drier.  Art!

     Er what?  No, no, I was after -

     O never mind.  TUMBLE-DRIER!  TUMBLE-DRIER NOW!

Since I Mentioned It, Let Us Now Return To -

20 works on classical civilisation that you need to read.  Art!

          Historians and novelists have been kind to the ancient Greeks.  I well remember Robert Graves 'I, Claudius' where the ailing Claudius is informed by a Greek doctor that they could have treated his bowel complaints if only he'd consulted with them a decade earlier, because Rational Humanists.

     In this work, according to compiler Daisy Dunn, Dodds tackles the realities of just how crackpot the ancient Hellenes could be, believing in supernatural nonsense that made a mockery of their supposedly-logical mindset.  Kind of like Vulcans being into Satanism and creationism I dare say.  Just to put a modern-day slant on it.

A Lot Of Work Has Gone Into This

As you should surely know by now, Conrad is a dilettante wargamer, with an especial focus on the First Unpleasantness on the Western Front.  I use the 'Square Bashing' ruleset that deals with large or very large formations, up to an Army Corp in strength.

     So, imagine my surprise when a WW1 wargame turns up on Twitter.  Art!

     Here the British - you can tell thanks to the tactical markings on their Mk IV tanks - are assaulting a Teuton trench-line.  There must be at least 10 companies of infantry on the board there, accompanied by 10 tanks.  All fairly large-scale, so the gamers will have spent hours and hours - by the x10 painting them all.

Still On The Subject Of Wargaming

Just hex-and-counter this time.  Art!

     Conrad is guessing that 'La Bataille' is a particular ruleset and that 'Dresden' is one of the scenarios thus involved.  Art!

     This is the counter-set involved, which seems enormous, until you understand how large the map is.  Art!

     That's a verrrrry large map.  The hexes are typically up to two centimetres across, so count the hexes across the bottom edge and get you calculators out.

"La Bataille de Dresde is a large-scale, detailed hex-and-counter wargame published by Clash of Arms that simulates the Battle of Dresden (fought August 25–27, 1813) during the Napoleonic Wars"

     Yours for only $142!  O and you need another 3 people to be able to play it.

This Is Why 'Moscow' Mike Johnson Just Wants To Walk Away

In case you were unaware, MMJ is the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and whom has decided that he wants to leave politics the sooner the better.  He's not going to be staying on as House Minority Speaker - a position with absolutely no authority - and just wants out.  Perhaps because he sees vengeful Democrats with subpoenas about how he helped Trump help Putin.  Art!

     MMJ ended the last session of Congress early, to avoid Whisky Pete getting indicted.  Now that Congress is back in session, Ol' Massie is attempting to get Heggy impeached.  Quite a feat to be so hated that YOUR OWN PARTY is indicting you, nicht wahr?  

     The smart money has it that Massie won't succeed, but Lord Jesus Christ On A Petrol-Powered Pogo Stick, this looks bad for the Wizard Lizard Gizzard Party.  And then some.

* Yet <wallet squeaks in anguish>

Statistics And Ballistics

Strap In, We're In For A Looooong Ride

First of all, since I'm writing this on Remembrance Sunday, allow me to include a bit of prose from Valerii Zaluzhnyi; he used to be the Ukrainian Minister of Defence but was replaced.  As proof that he wasn't disliked or out of favour, he instead got to be Ambassador to Great Britain.  He, very wisely, stopped shaving his head and allowed it to fur up.  Art!

     This makes him look a lot less like a thug in an alley who would beat you senseless and nick your phone.

     ANYWAY he posted on Twitter about today.  

"Across the United Kingdom, we remember those who lost their lives in the two World Wars and in conflicts since. This tradition of remembrance dates back to the Armistice of 11 November 1918, which brought the fighting of the First World War to an end.

For Ukraine, remembrance is not only about the past. Every day, our brave men and women continue to make the ultimate sacrifice in defence of our freedom."

     The UK suffered 45,000 dead in the Blitz.  It did not make us want to surrender, or arrange an armistice or stop fighting.  Quite the opposite.  Art!

     86 years apart with the ethos still the same.

     When the Second Unpleasantness began, the UK had a very limited capacity to strike back at the Teuton.  Over time this increased, to quantum levels of difference where whole Teuton cities could be bombed flat overnight.

   Let us now review where the needle is in terms of the orcs versus the Kozaky.  Art!

    Here is Ruffian data about how many of their refineries are on fire.  Art!

     This is the Ryazan refinery on fire, for the (!) 17th strike on it during this war.  Unlike previous drone attacks, the Kozaky have gone after the whole refinery rather than restricting to specific targets within the site.  Their intent is to destroy the whole installation rather than closing down part of it and we'll see if they manage same.  Also hit were the refineries at Kstovo, Bashneft and Novokuibishevbysk.  Art!

     Apologies if you're feeling bored or Refinery Burned Out.  This is the Samara hydraulics hub on fire, days after it was hit, where four pipelines meet, and the totality of the destruction has yet to be independently verified.  Art!

     - since it is completely covered with smoke.  Give it at least 48 hours before any satellite imagery can be released.

     'Operation Gomorrah' anyone?  You know, the British strikes against Teuton dams in 1943?  Reap the hurricane after sowing the wind vibes.

     Prez Zed also confirmed that there had been no 'Energy Treaty' about not striking Ruffian refineries in October - that was all inside the hideously deranged landscape of Donold Judas Trump's head.  Rather proven by the strikes above.

     ANYWAY back to the details about statistics.  Art!

     We are now venturing into territory analysed by both Preston Stewart (port) and Paul Warburg (starboard), with Jake Broe as an introduction.  Art!

     This graph shows the increasing Ruffian casualties as a single line, whilst their territorial gains are on the bar chart.  They are not doing well.  54,000 casualties in October 2026.  According to Jake's map, Mordorvia has conquered as much as 21 square kilometers in October 2026, at the cost of 54,000 casualties.  Ukraine is - you may be ahead of me here - quite a lot bigger than 21 square kilometers.  Art!

     Corroborating evidence from 'Preston Stewart' (whom I shall call 'Prez', just so you don't confuse him with Prez Zed) where he is using RUFFIAN data to show how miserably unsuccessful their offensives are, with the data from orc 'Kapris'.  Prez uses their data, alongside that of The Supreme Ruffian Shuffling Zombie Gerasimov, to work out that, at the current rate of progress, at 0.42 square kilometres per square per front - concentrating on the 10% of Donetsk that has not been conquered - it will take another 31 years to conquer what they desire.  In Donetsk.  In Donetsk alone, NOT the rest of Ukraine.  This is not the profile of a successful army, even if it pretends to be by lying and misreporting up the entire chain of command.  Don't forget - Kyiv in three days!

     This chimes with what Your Humble Scribe has posted elsewhere, where, on current of progress, it would take 100 years for the orcs to conquer Ukraine.  Art!

Trump is very cross that Ruffia is doing badly

     Warby - Paul Warburg if we're being formal - also focussed on the fact that the war is becoming ever-deadlier for the orcs.  That total of 54,000 (one every 35 seconds) in October is not the same statistical split as in normal warfare, since the orcs have absolutely no regard for their own lives and will not recover their own wounded or dead.  As an orc, it cannot be good for morale when walking past the corpses of those who got droned on the way to the Grey Zone, which numerous video clips depict.  Normally, the ratio of killed to wounded in modern warfare is 1:3.  Normally.  With the orcs, it's 3:2, so that's 32,000 KIA in October versus 22,000 WIA, because their medical services are state of the art for 1926.

     The situation is reversed with the Ukrainians; one correspondent told Prez that his battalion hadn't suffered a single casualty in weeks of operations because everything was being done by drone.

     I shall pause here as we don't want another single item blog, do we?

  

You May Or May Not 

Be overfond of Gene Roddenberry, the inventor of cult favourite 'Starry Trex' (sp?) but one saying he had sticks with Your Humble Scribe - "Did aliens build the pyramids?  No, human beings did, because they're clever and they work hard."

     We now have more proof of that, thanks to an Egyptian research team.

"Archaeologists had long suspected that the ancient Egyptians relied on a waterway to transport the massive stone blocks and other materials needed to build the towering pyramids.

However, as one of the lead researchers, Prof Eman Ghoneim, explained, "nobody was certain of the location, the shape, the size or proximity of this mega waterway to the actual pyramids site" – till now."

     Art!

     The dashed blue line is the ancient waterway, long since gone, which the ancient Egyptians used as a transport for their construction.  Gene vindicated.

Talking Of Antiquity -

Down to Number 8 on that list of works on classical civilisations.  Art!

     Hollywood has been kind to the Spartans, as seen in epics such as "The 300 Spartans' and '300', which ignore the fact that there were a lot of Thespians at Thermopylae, bec

     ANYWAY the creator of this list wholeheartedly recommends this book, which goes into the background of the Spartans in detail, not merely their waging of war, involving both logic and superstition.  Conrad recalls that they had a slave underclass, the helots, of whom they were both contemptful and worried.

     Look how responsible I am in not buying this book.  My palms are sweating but I'm not buying it.  NOT BUYING IT.

     <checks Abebooks>

Whoop Whoop

Look what I just discovered on my newsfeed.  Art!

     The universe is still trying to tell me something.  I wish they'd just use Gmail instead, it's a lot more rational if less supernatural.  Thanks, universe.

Another 'You What?' Moment

I shall merely post first without a leading comment.  Art!

     What on earth are they blathering on about?  Is this about lifts?  Elevators?  Meaningless management babble?  Word salad?  All of the previous?  No I am not going to click on the link to see where it leads, that's what brought about all this pan nonsense, which is not yet over -  the adverts on Youtube are all slanted towards hideously expensive Japanese cookware.  I learned my lesson there.

Finally -

Going out with a dual Biercism today.

"Magnet, n: something acted upon by magnetism.

Magnetism, n: something acting upon a magnet."