The Old Hack

So, I am going to grumble about logistics for a bit.
For large armies logistics are everything. Without supplies they cannot fight. It is entirely possible that they cannot even reach wherever they are supposed to go. This rule is even more important for modern armies but even for medieval or fantasy armies this holds true.
Now Tolkien was completely aware of this and did it right. He had both the strategic and operational scale covered. Strategically in that while Mordor was a terrible place for growing food, Sauron also controlled more distant and presumably more fertile nations who paid tithes in the form of food and valuable materials. Presumably this allowed him to keep large stockpiles of food in Mordor so he could keep his armies supplied. What is more, when he did move his armies he split them up and used different routes before they converged on their target (as seen in the battle for Minas Tirith). This made them much more manageable supply-wise; moving all his troops in a single column would have been unmanageably difficult. (David Weber also did this well in his Safehold series where he not only describes the logistics very realistically but also has them be the deciding factor in at least three or four of the campaigns described.)
Unfortunately -- and this is where my ranting begins -- not all authors are very concerned with this. Especially the Tolkien ripoffs have a tendency to have huge armies but not spend even a moment of thought on where they get their food from. A particularly egregious example would be Robert Jordan's massive The Dragon Procrastinating series in which Totally Not Morgoth™ has a massive army of Absolutely Not Orcs™ and I Can't Believe It's Not Nazgul™. This army somehow emerges fully equipped from a country described as being as about as welcoming as a WH40K hellworld and where you take your life in your hands if you try to travel as much as half a kilometer. There is certainly no possibility of growing food there for even a small settlement, let alone for a massive army on the march. Apparently Totally Not Morgoth™ pulled this huge army straight out of his arse.
There are of course numerous lesser offenders. They typically create a Mordor ripoff which can at least credibly serve as an industrial base for their not-Orcs but where the only vegetation consists of maybe two thorn bushes and a cactus. It is blindingly obvious that this country cannot sustain an army let alone the population needed to recruit it from. It is so frustrating to me and often destroys my immersion, changing my read from enjoyable relaxation into sneering at the writer's ineptness. (I can get fun from the latter, too, but it annoys me when the writer does not even try.)
In short: Armies need food. This isn't hard. Sigh.

So, I am going to grumble about logistics for a bit.
For large armies logistics are everything. Without supplies they cannot fight. It is entirely possible that they cannot even reach wherever they are supposed to go. This rule is even more important for modern armies but even for medieval or fantasy armies this holds true.
Now Tolkien was completely aware of this and did it right. He had both the strategic and operational scale covered. Strategically in that while Mordor was a terrible place for growing food, Sauron also controlled more distant and presumably more fertile nations who paid tithes in the form of food and valuable materials. Presumably this allowed him to keep large stockpiles of food in Mordor so he could keep his armies supplied. What is more, when he did move his armies he split them up and used different routes before they converged on their target (as seen in the battle for Minas Tirith). This made them much more manageable supply-wise; moving all his troops in a single column would have been unmanageably difficult. (David Weber also did this well in his Safehold series where he not only describes the logistics very realistically but also has them be the deciding factor in at least three or four of the campaigns described.)
Unfortunately -- and this is where my ranting begins -- not all authors are very concerned with this. Especially the Tolkien ripoffs have a tendency to have huge armies but not spend even a moment of thought on where they get their food from. A particularly egregious example would be Robert Jordan's massive The Dragon Procrastinating series in which Totally Not Morgoth™ has a massive army of Absolutely Not Orcs™ and I Can't Believe It's Not Nazgul™. This army somehow emerges fully equipped from a country described as being as about as welcoming as a WH40K hellworld and where you take your life in your hands if you try to travel as much as half a kilometer. There is certainly no possibility of growing food there for even a small settlement, let alone for a massive army on the march. Apparently Totally Not Morgoth™ pulled this huge army straight out of his arse.
There are of course numerous lesser offenders. They typically create a Mordor ripoff which can at least credibly serve as an industrial base for their not-Orcs but where the only vegetation consists of maybe two thorn bushes and a cactus. It is blindingly obvious that this country cannot sustain an army let alone the population needed to recruit it from. It is so frustrating to me and often destroys my immersion, changing my read from enjoyable relaxation into sneering at the writer's ineptness. (I can get fun from the latter, too, but it annoys me when the writer does not even try.)
In short: Armies need food. This isn't hard. Sigh.

Armatures discuss tactics.  Professional discuss logistics.
 

That is the entire Religious Right in the US. Entirely missing the point.
 
To be fair, "When is Easter?' is not trivial. Not exceedingly difficult, but requires some calculation.
Sorry to say, #5 is true, and the number is not small.
 

I feel very tired.
Trans visibility day always falls on March 31. Easter happened to fall on March 31. Certain Republican douchevolcanoes decided to pretend to be angered by this and demanded an apology from trans people in a blatant attempt to stir up outrage among their voters.
This is offensive in so many ways. Just to mention a few:
1) They are demanding that trans people apologize for existing. They know perfectly well we won't and plan to use our refusal to further outrage their befuddled and frightened voters.
2) Their pretense that it is somehow the responsibility of trans people that a holiday that falls on a different day EVERY YEAR happens to coincide with an unrelated holiday this year.
3) Their use of a holiday meant to honour a man who preached tolerance and acceptance as a tool to further promote hatred and intolerance.
4) Their assumption that their voters are so blisteringly dim-witted so as not to know how calendars work.
5) The possibility that a number of them actually are that dim offends me personally.
Sigh.

I feel very tired.
Trans visibility day always falls on March 31. Easter happened to fall on March 31. Certain Republican douchevolcanoes decided to pretend to be angered by this and demanded an apology from trans people in a blatant attempt to stir up outrage among their voters.
This is offensive in so many ways. Just to mention a few:
1) They are demanding that trans people apologize for existing. They know perfectly well we won't and plan to use our refusal to further outrage their befuddled and frightened voters.
2) Their pretense that it is somehow the responsibility of trans people that a holiday that falls on a different day EVERY YEAR happens to coincide with an unrelated holiday this year.
3) Their use of a holiday meant to honour a man who preached tolerance and acceptance as a tool to further promote hatred and intolerance.
4) Their assumption that their voters are so blisteringly dim-witted so as not to know how calendars work.
5) The possibility that a number of them actually are that dim offends me personally.
Sigh.

I feel very tired.
Trans visibility day always falls on March 31. Easter happened to fall on March 31. Certain Republican douchevolcanoes decided to pretend to be angered by this and demanded an apology from trans people in a blatant attempt to stir up outrage among their voters.
This is offensive in so many ways. Just to mention a few:
1) They are demanding that trans people apologize for existing. They know perfectly well we won't and plan to use our refusal to further outrage their befuddled and frightened voters.
2) Their pretense that it is somehow the responsibility of trans people that a holiday that falls on a different day EVERY YEAR happens to coincide with an unrelated holiday this year.
3) Their use of a holiday meant to honour a man who preached tolerance and acceptance as a tool to further promote hatred and intolerance.
4) Their assumption that their voters are so blisteringly dim-witted so as not to know how calendars work.
5) The possibility that a number of them actually are that dim offends me personally.
Sigh.

I feel very tired.
Trans visibility day always falls on March 31. Easter happened to fall on March 31. Certain Republican douchevolcanoes decided to pretend to be angered by this and demanded an apology from trans people in a blatant attempt to stir up outrage among their voters.
This is offensive in so many ways. Just to mention a few:
1) They are demanding that trans people apologize for existing. They know perfectly well we won't and plan to use our refusal to further outrage their befuddled and frightened voters.
2) Their pretense that it is somehow the responsibility of trans people that a holiday that falls on a different day EVERY YEAR happens to coincide with an unrelated holiday this year.
3) Their use of a holiday meant to honour a man who preached tolerance and acceptance as a tool to further promote hatred and intolerance.
4) Their assumption that their voters are so blisteringly dim-witted so as not to know how calendars work.
5) The possibility that a number of them actually are that dim offends me personally.
Sigh.

Thank you!

Oh, one other thing - Mrs. Prof strode out of the computer area Saturday afternoon and pronounced, "Someone loves me, and it isn't you," with a grin on her face. She then showed me a pair of silly-looking cat slippers that someone for whom she had done a favor had sent her as a gift. Nice, comfy looking. Still, not a challenge one should allow to go by if at all possible, and in this case, I had a retort. You see, I had ordered her a birthday gift - a pair of lab-grown diamond earrings (small diamonds, but that's all I could afford) - and I'd hoped to give them to her at Friday's family Thanksgiving get-together. Well, UPS thwarted that with late delivery, but they did deliver while she was out running a cat errand Saturday morning. I'd opened up the package and was ready to spring it on her at the proper time, and wouldn't you know it, she presented the proper time with her little "someone loves me" remark.
So, after letting a few comedy beats pass for effect, I went and retrieved the Zales box and brought it over to her. I then pronounced, "Someone loves you, and it's me," and handed her the box. The look on her face was priceless. She appreciated the gift very much, especially after I reassured her that I didn't break the bank in purchasing them (they were $59 plus tax - like I said, they were small). I had her try them on, and she looked lovely in them. Mission accomplished, on both fronts.

Project X is just a holding name.  I have no of releasing it under that name.
 
I'll keep that in mind, sorta like that name.

Well, from a certain point of view it is. For example, traditionally when you negotiate with Nazis you do it with, say, thirty-ought-sixes fired from an M1. (You are allowed to upgrade to more modern negotiation methods today, of course.) By the time they are finally tired of that you can move on to negotiate their surrender with words. (Give up or we go back to previous methods.)
I loved the 'Edwardian' joke in the comments. Possibly because I am like that myself. I have a friend named Elizabeth whom I once cited as the ideal source with whom to consult about Elizabethan English.

So Russia just withdrew its Black Sea fleet from Sevastopol.
Think about that for a moment. A much smaller nation with no navy of its own just forced Russia to move its navy back to a safer port in Russia proper. What an amazing feat.
https://www.wsj.com/world/russia-withdraws-black-sea-fleet-vessels-from-crimea-base-after-ukrainian-attacks-51d6d4f5

"All warfare is based on deception, so that tracks."
-- Some Chinese Guy, Misquoted

The same thing occurred to me. Thank you for pointing this out.

On the plus side I am a child of such immigrants to Denmark, and I actually did manage to pass the test. (I was curious so I tried it.)
Maybe that is why the Danish People's Party are so scared of people like me. They know I am a better Dane than them just a generation or two after arriving here.

It looks nice from orbit, mind you.

I suspect that Ukrainian forces would not take that in.  Now if it goes the other way, it's possible.

Latest Ruzzian seige system.

"Is wooden bear! Honors our liberation!"

It was not that big a deal. I was in a bad situation, needed to leave, had to wait until my next pay check to get a room. It was summer, and I had enough money for a few light meals and travel to work. No where to sleep was an issue.

I have been very briefly homeless, for a few days, in a long ago part of my life. I agree, it was not fun.

Senator Menendez has refused to resign his position in spite of being federally indicted. I want to go on the record as stating that if he will not resign willingly, he must be compelled to. "The laws do not apply to me" is not a good excuse for leaving that kind of person in power.

Come on. It was only ATTEMPTED overthrow of the Republic. Why shouldn't he get another shot at it?

I feel like crap.  <checks weather underground: rain front rolling in, 85% chance of rain early evening>  Oh, that's why.  Gonna finish this cup of tea, take an analgesic, then go to bed.