Saltire, Moscow and Tomb

I'm sitting here reading the online newspapers, though apart from a tragedy in Baltimore there is little actual news on offer, when I looked up for inspiration and found this!  Here above me was the Saltire!

Clearly this is a sign, of what I am unsure.  Possibly this indicates Scotland will defeat Northern Ireland in tonight's friendly match, possibly it indicates independence is round the corner, possibly it indicate two aircraft coming and going from Stansted almost hit one another!

I do not know.

Sadly, the air stream has moved the Saltire on elsewhere.  No doubt Sunak passing by in one of his £600,000 helicopters saw this and destroyed it in a piece of tetchiness for which he is well known.  

Englishmen have made use of such attitudes for a thousand years, but we are still here!

South China Morning Post

The tragedy in Baltimore has removed the Moscow outrage from the front page.  Questions regarding why that occurred are ongoing.  ISIS-K, the ISIS working in Russia, hates Christians, and believes all Russians, and indeed all Westerners are Christians.  Of course ISIS hates everybody who is not ISIS, Muslims, Hindu's, Indonesian, Taliban, Iran, Shia's etc, almost the whole world, so it is easy for them to find a target.  The Chechen war some years ago heightened their disgust at Moscow and this is not the first outrage that has occurred there.

Questions arise however, as to how four men got into the theatre with automatic weapons, dressed in fatigues and opened fire.  The FSB, the Russian security service is very efficient, the US, among others had warned of an attack, and yet this was allowed to happen.

Some imply Putin was involved himself allowing the attack to take place to turn attention away from both the death of the opposition leader in the gulag, and the losses in the Ukraine war.  Indeed one report speaks of men dressed in similar outfits, blue jerseys, blue jeans, with guns, hindering people attempting to escape.  These may be conspiracy theorists but many questions have not been answered. Add to this the housing block demolished by bombs some years ago which was blamed on Chechens if I remember correctly, conspiracy theorists again wondered if the Stalin impersonator was responsible, it is like him, and human beings are worth little to Putin.  

We await answers, though we may wait some time.

As it is Easter Time here is a quick look at the Holy Sepulchre, the place most likely to have been where Jesus was crucified and the tomb in which he may well have been laid.  Constantine's mother led the way in identifying the places, and he built this structure over it, but a historical perspective is somewhat ruined by that.  Worth a look however.

The King, Ukraine and Boris

Guardian

 

I watched the 'Accession Council' in full this morning.  The Historical side attracts me, as indeed does the 'event' side.  It was good to see 200 members of the Accession Council confer with one another.  Some amicable to those from all sides of government, others no doubt keeping well apart from past or present foes.  Gordon Brown talking keenly to a Boris Johnson who was as uninterested as if he was being instructed by his advisors.  He was keen to chat to the official photographer however.  

Many today grumble about the fancy dress, the pomp and circumstance of the day.  However, this does reflect centuries of tradition and need not be thrown away altogether, all nations follow such pomp, some from recent foundations as well as those from a distant past.  The fact that History is not well taught to the public via the daily press or TV means the man in the street cannot always understand what the fancy dress is for.  Interesting to note the Accession Council were in lounge suits  mostly, the fancy garb, including tights, of past years has gone.  There is a place still for pomp, though sometimes I wonder about it.  I wonder more about the people who sycophantically follow the royals, buy all the vast pull-outs published this weekend, and worship the royals as if they were something other than human.  Clearly today showed they are human.  Just what they actually think of the media I do not know, but I doubt they enjoy the bull they have to read.

Interesting just how much time was given over to protecting the Church of Scotland and Scotland's rights during this event.  I could not help thinking that if the Westminster government gave similar attention Scotland's life would be better.

So, another event is over, Edinburgh for the next one, a 'Scottish lying in state,' then down to London, and funeral on Monday 19th.  I imagine that within 20 years things will have been changed, simplified, when Charles himself goes.  While proper administrative, public, handovers are required I expect changes in the next few days.  

In other news, the Russians are running away in parts of the Crimea.  Russian info has admitted this, but what excuse are they giving?  Their army, badly equipped, badly led, and with a minority of trained soldiers, has continued to cause offence to the world while moving backwards.  Will the Ukrainian army finally clear them out of the whole of Crimea?  Will Putin remain in charge?  Will more military leaders fall from high windows around Moscow?  The world waits.

From Twitter:-

TheBossRoss 

@BettinaSRoss1

The German edition of Saturday Night Live has this:

"During her reign, Queen Elizabeth II, received 11 male prime ministers, 

3 female prime ministers, and Boris Johnson."

Anotherd Day, Another Boris Story

 

One thing has become even more clearer than we once thought, and that is the influence of Vladimir Putin on the Conservative Party and Brexit.  We have known for a long time he was issuing social media bots and encouraging division in the UK from his St Petersburg geek farms, but the extent of his influence grows with the day.  

Boris, who 'lost' his security man to escape to Italy and meet certain Russians, including Mr Lebdev, a son of a KGB agent, who now owns a newspaper and is a member of the House of Lords, the Baron for Siberia.  Add the number of people, nearly all Conservative members, including one, now richer by around £60,000, who began the 'Friends of Russia group,' Farage and the Leave.co people another with a leader who has influence in Russia.  

A long line of Tories have received between £5,000, normally £10,000 and way, way up, including Jeremy Hunt who has been donated three bundles of roubles worth almost £100,000.  Now, for some strange reason, Boris is slow today in dealing with the local oligarchs, I wonder why?

Running around Europe, pretending the UK is 'In the lead,' when it is way behind the EU and everybody else, is more flannel for his audience, an audience that shrinks with each day.  We have a government completely owned by Russia.  Why can these people not be charged with treason?

 

 

Putin is not mad, but clearly very annoyed.  His corrupt government, his corrupt, badly trained army, with a great deal of inferior machinery, badly maintained at that, and with thousands of untrained young conscripts also, is struggling to take control of Ukraine.

However, Vladimir will continue this drive, he will not stop.  There is only one acceptable outcome, but the guerilla war that will follow any success Russia has will drain his nation more than the run on the many Banks has done already.

How will it end, will it end?  Will it involve us?  

To be honest I do not get the feeling WW3 is here yet.  I hope I feel correctly.  Many thousands will die yet, how long before the west gets fed up with it all and forgets and looks away again?  We already look away from Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Syria, constant African wars, the Korean problem and all the other small conflicts around the world, badly dressed celebs are more important for some.  Soon Ukraine will go this way also.

 

Tuesday Twaddle

Another joy filled day as the washing machine pipe was fixed.  Poor Kevin spent considerable time under the bunker fiddling with it but appears to have successfully healed the problem.  A trial run satisfied him, and he knows washing machines, so hopefully when I use it again it will be successful. 
To complete our joy John spent the rest of the time attaching tiles to the kitchen wall.  This too was successful and on Friday, probably, the grout will be filling in the gaps and then I can paint over the scratches on the wall, hoover, again, over the dust they create and live happily ever after.
Another good job finished, another satisfied customer, sort off, and another landlord looking at the costs and muttering things.  With next door now empty I expect the rent there will rise to £600 a month!  This means a rich, short term occupant, or a couple, of dubious background, to welcome into our midst.  Lock down, job losses and high rents, what joy to be flat searching at this time.

Naturally nothing else has been done.  Tomorrow I once again rebuild the house, look to the 'to do' list, and hope nothing else goes wrong.
I note the 'Russian Report' has arrived and the press concentrate on one paragraph, the one in which Putin seeks Scots independence.  They ignore the Conservatives avoiding examining Russian involvement because Putin's men are giving them millions in handouts.  Cameron, May, Johnson, a long line of corruption at the highest level, and treasonable probably.  All the while Dominic is running around killing the armed forces.  Why do the media not make more inquiries abut these things I ask...?

Warm Day Among the Soviets

The warmest January day for two years they say.  Indeed as I struggled against the southern wind on the way to the sorting office I noted how mild it was that early in the day.  Shortly afterwards the rain came in torrents and I happily ignored it while I perused the laptop messages.
That sums up the day.

 
Tuesday was a busy work day.  I never got peace to read my book as the phone rang, people came in and I had things to do they would not let me ignore.  This is not fair!  
The 'Cold War' is the next thing on the agenda at the museum.  While the recent history 60s to 80's continues we also will offer some things regarding the nearby airbase used by the Yanks during the Cold War.  Vast numbers married local women, many moving overseas some remaining here, and a great many local people having known of the Americans since 1942 when they first arrived are keen to remember them, some wishing they would come back!  
This begins on Saturday so all being well I will be there also for the opening of the museum and the talk that follows.  So many men flew from near here, many not returning during WW2, and many flew unknown operations until the aircraft moved on around 1970.  Then the base was operated by the men who repair airfields so many men continued to enjoy the various delights of the town and district.  Hopefully one or two might join us at the weekend.

 
For those of us who lived during the Cold War it is difficult sometimes to consider that things have changed.  For years the 'Iron Curtain' hid life behind the 'wall' and since it fell in 1989 we now must note that the wall has been down longer than it stood across Europe!  For many years I used to listen to the shortwave broadcasts from Eastern Europe on my little radio.  This was very enjoyable, the variety of radio stations reflecting the economic power of the various states.  Radio Berlin International from East Germany was highly efficient and professional, however the short hour or so from Romania very poor indeed, especially as there was little power to enable them to broadcast for longer.  Thankfully all these places are stronger and most are better of in every way, even allowing for Putin's attempt to create his own version of Soviet power.  Shortwave radio is sparse these days.

Tuesday Waffle

Trudging wearily home from the museum I wandered through town watching the men struggling to put up the towns Christmas decorations.  The big switch on off lights is Saturday and I am glad to see they have not erected the feeble decorations too soon.  I believe in Denmark such things are banned until December and so they ought to be.  These would have been arranged earlier but problems arose from people forgetting to order the things and not arranging for the road to be blocked on the Saturday hence they are being erected today.  Council jobsworth not worth their jobs it appears.
Another Christmas and how many will appreciate why it exists?

However I am happy to report the building was busy today with Christmas browsers and some even parting with money.  The exhibition is not too busy as people are preparing for the rush.  Hopefully it will be better in January.  Three women did arrive, kids also, and the three of them chatted happily in the shop making more noise than some football crowds I have known.  The few men who later appeared were quiet, mostly because they had no idea what they were looking for!   Making tea was however difficult,  the kettles would not work.  It took me ages to realise the sockets were blown.  So it looks like a fuse or worse for those.  I found another and had my tea, just in time to leave.  Too busy to make it earlier.

The worst part of this time of the year is that few care about history.  They are so busy preparing for Christmas any history is put aside.  This is unfortunate as the desire to talk about something interesting is replaced by telling folks where they might find things we do not stock.  It was also very interesting that nobody mentioned Harry and his bird we are all paying for.  The media, even during the night, was full of him and her and today they wax lyrical about where they will be married, I care much...
However the row over the Brexit papers not being disclosed to parliament may indeed bring it all crashing down, if the House plays its cards properly.  By telling the House there were papers and then offering redacted versions off them and now claiming there were no papers someone is telling lies.  Hopefully it all falls apart by Christmas.  
Now a report Korea has launched a rocket for Christmas might take Harry off the front page while we watch Trump bellowing from a golf course about some nutter with nuclear weapons, oh the irony!

Finally from Russia a story. 
Alexander 'Sasha' Chechik sent 'selfie's' to his friends while holding a hand grenade having taken the pin OUT!  He sent several pictures to his friends and one asked "Are you OK?" And got "Depends on what OK is in your understanding?" as an answer.  Moments later the grenade went off.
Now some 'experts,' and I use that word loosely, tell us if the lever is held the grenade will not go off, but many different types of grenade are out there and this is Russia so who knows where this came from.  The police claim it was an accident and not a suicide, either way it was effective.   Men do not live as long as women and this man gives some indication for the reason for this.  A sad story but with a degree of humour also. 

2nd Battalion Essex Regiment, Somme 1st July 16

The Somme battle was a result of war co-operation between the allies Britain, France and Russia for the offensive's in 1916.  While Britain and France 'pushed' from the west Russia was to launch an attack in the east on the Austro-Hungarian forces.

The Germans however got in first by attacking at Verdun in such a manner as to 'Bleed France white.'

Such was the weight of the battle that the French began to drift from the Somme attack and left this to General Haig to command.  Haig did not wish to fight at the Somme but the London government were in awe of France and insisted that he follow their lead as they had done the year before when forcing the then Commander in Chief Sir John French to fight at Loos.  That was a disaster and the fighting there continued until 1918.

A huge logistical operation was undertaken and a line sixteen miles long became the battle line.  Over 1500 guns were to spend an entire week firing at the German line in an attempt to break the enemy wire and damage their trench system.  Shortly before the attack mines spread along the lone were to be exploded, damaging the trench system and the shock allowing the allies to penetrate the enemy line.

The majority of battalions participating in this battle were the men who volunteered willingly in 1914.  Over two and a half million men volunteered between August 1914 and December 31st 1915. Some had been in France since Spring 1915 and seen action of some sort, others arrived on the day of battle and few of these had fired a shot in practice let alone in anger.

On 1st July 1916 the mines went off, the barrage lifted to the second line and over 100,000 men left their trench and advanced on the enemy. 

Only then were the failures to be revealed.

The enemy wire in many places was uncut, trenches often undamaged and the early firing of the Hawthorn Ridge mine ensued the Germans were ready and waiting when the attack came.  Many of the million and a half shells had failed to explode or went off early.  The shock element was limited and with both machine gun and artillery, and artillery which had been 'hidden' by the Germans, opening fire the attackers came under a hail of fire and advance bent over as though walking through heavy rain.  In some places the front line and further was reached but in many the British fell within yards of their own trench.  

Two men from this region fell that day. 

Robert Leslie Ratcliff a 19 year old Bocking man was one.  Born Bocking in 1897 a resident of Panfield Lane Robert enlisted in the 2nd Battalion of the Essex Regiment.  It is most likely he did so with friends from the area at the time.  Also serving in the 2nd Battalion was 19 year old George Leonard Smoothy from Chapel Hill.  George came from a family of ten children, not uncommon for the time.  George had enlisted in the 12th Battalion of the Essex Regiment, a 'Kitchener battalion comprising local volunteers and been rejected because of faulty vision.  However with a brother a 'regular' in the 2nd Battalion he turns up there in time for this battle.  His brother fought through many major battles surviving the war yet died from appendicitis in 1919.

The battalion advanced and came under heavy machine gun and artillery fire the moment they left their trench. Firing from the residue of the towns of Serre and Beaumont Hamel on either flank hindered the advance however some parties advanced 2000 yards into the enemy line reaching to  Pendant Copse until enemy bombers forced a return to the trench system known as the 'Quadrilateral.' Here a stand was made until relieved during the night.

Somewhere during the battle Robert and George fell, their bodies were never recovered and their names are engraved on the Theipval Memorial along with almost 72,000 others from the Somme conflict.

Battalion Casualties were 22 officers and 400 other ranks.

Total casualties that day were around 19,000 British dead and another 40,000 wounded.  By the end of the battle, or series of 'battles' there were almost 400,000 British and similar German casualties.  However in context of the time the 'Brusilov Offensive' where the Russian forces attacked across what is now Ukraine against the Austro-Hungarians some 1,350,000 were casualties.  

By the end of the war Britian lost less men that France, Germany or Russia and their Generals were not hounded as some of the British Generals were by politicians, like Prime Minister LLoyd George trying to avoid responsibility for the deaths. 

Braintree & Bocking Great War Memorial 

Bomb Shops

The idiot PM Cameron is trying his best to get parliament to support his rash intention of bombing Syria.  This means he now wishes to bomb the people fighting Assad the man he wanted to bomb last year but parliament opposed.  Now the people fighting Assad have been overrun by ISIS or some other Islamist group also fighting Assad but we will bomb them to help the fight against Assad.  The fact that Russia now has many, many more aircraft already bombing those fighting Assad including ISIS we must be on the side of the man we oppose in the Baltic region and Ukraine.  
Does Cameron understand this? 
So we fight alongside Russia against ISIS, against Russia in Ukraine & the Baltic's while supporting non ISIS fighting Assad supported by Russia?  No wonder he fails to understand how his government is reducing local services in his own county!
The bombing of Libya left a broken nation where armed gangs roam the streets.  Supporting those fighting Assad has left Syria broken yet the money for these wars flows through London so they say!
You thought Blair and Bush were bad?

I went shopping today.  I actually had shopped for what I wanted but had to return to the shop to put right the financial difficulty that had arisen.  With the family being 400 miles to the north it is easier to send a gift card rather than a present they don't want.  So I wandered down the other week and bought eight such cards from the woman's shop that they are happy with (I wanted to get a gift card from 'Poundland' but others persuaded me 'no') and had them ready to go and all appeared well.  The thing was that as each card had an accompanying £5 off voucher these all had to go through the till separately which took time but the young lass handled it very well.  However on checking, and rechecking, the bank statement (the one that just says "GIVE US YOUR CASH!" all pretence to service long gone from them) I noted that instead of eight amounts there was only one which meant I was seven times the amount better off than I thought.  Hmmm thought i this cannot be so I let it go for a week or so awaiting movement but they moved less than my knees and that is why I ventured to hobble down the road this gray dreich freezing cold afternoon.  
I had actually been there in the morning where the girl informed me I required to carry the cars with me so they could be checked on the system, I trudged back, via the supermarket, and lunched on something tasteless.  I wonder what it was?  
This afternoon I spoke to the (twenty something male) manager. (hmmm) and he almost said 'Just keep quiet and it will go away' but not quite, however the lass I had bought the cards from appeared and took a more mature approach.  She remembered me, I find attractive women do, checked the cards, the receipts and claimed all was OK.  The manager appeared unwilling or incapable f doing anything so the lass phoned the people 'upstairs' wherever that may be located.  She explained the situation and after a while was told to hold, cue bad music, after which another voice listened as she explained once again the predicament.  The voice muttered and murmured and then decided that there was nothing that could be done!  So that was that, I took the cards, proffered thanks to the one store member worth her wage and left.
I had bought eight at £25 and they were losing £175 yet this did not appear to bother anyone.  I can understand a business with many shops and connected to larger concerns like that can lose such amounts and not notice but the lack of concern from here and there amazed me.  They appeared surprised at my honesty!  Yet many folks I meet are honest in such situations, maybe it is the clientele or maybe honesty is less obvious than it once was.  The bad running of a business in itself does not shock, many companies I worked for while temping surprised me with their lack of concern, often the main staff cared only for their bonus, sometimes they were corrupt or lazy but on other jobs efficiency and integrity shone through.  It all depended on the leadership.  
I will be checking my accounts next week but I suspect nothing will happen.  If I am that much better off I will donate it somewhere as it will burn a hole in my pocket.  A few pounds or pence is one thing but this is too much.