Regarding Russian numbers, a general mobilization would solve some of Russia's limitations. The fact Putin hasn't done this yet suggests some degree of reluctance to do this politically. Sending muzhiks from Siberia is a different proposition to sending Muscovites and St Petersburgians into the meat...

Hey is there any chance you could add Markdown parsing? It is pretty much the de facto standard these days.

During my readings I came across this old drinking game: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Page:Notes_and_Queries_-_Series_11_-_Volume_6.djvu/63 The editor thinks that it is not even certain to what sense of " nail " the phrase belongs, whether the human nail or the metallic n'ail. He has placed the ph...

It's an oft-quoted fact(?) about Borges, "He read the Encyclopedia Britannica from A-Z", purportedly having a great influence on his writing. I guess it's probably true since he sounds like an encyclopedia. I used to read encyclopedias as a kid, actually... I still do, albeit Wikipedia. Opening a d...

Today I'm making spaghetti alla vongole. With clams and mussels, Italian wine and spaghetti al nero di sepia.

Goal: https://www.google.com/amp/s/blog.giall ... ngole/amp/

I have a bottle of Greco di Tufo to go with it.

Is any of it actually 'realistic' though? It seems more a fantasy of violence than an actual representation thereof - as watching any unedited video of the situation in Ukraine would quickly reveal.

It's an oft-quoted fact(?) about Borges, "He read the Encyclopedia Britannica from A-Z", purportedly having a great influence on his writing. I guess it's probably true since he sounds like an encyclopedia. I used to read encyclopedias as a kid, actually... I still do, albeit Wikipedia. Opening a d...

I still read but a lot less since the New World Order, Illuminati, George Soros, Billy G and Hilary Clinton conspired to create social media and smartphones to destroy my attention span in order to accept a diet of bugs and Soylent Green. I spent a year doing long train journeys in 2009 pre-smartpho...

Now, now, according to legend, some Baron married into the Chandon family came to Argentina in the 50s and, upon noticing that Argentineans pumped sparkling water into their wine on a regular basis, decided the land was ideal for a champagne industry and established in Argentina Chandon's first sub...

Personally I like to think I like stinky cheeses, though I do remember tasting one in France that tasted like fish and was revolting. I noticed in Argentina that - without the French laws on protected designation of origins that they then forced on the rest of Europe through the EU - what is called...