Get My Gun Ma, The Ruskies Are a-Comin'





Tuedsady 14/6/2005

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Diary and Notes

When I was but a wee ankle biter I remember being convinced that either the Russians were going to invade and force us to join their evil Stalinist empire (the general concensus on the right wing of British politics) or the Americans were going to invade and make us part of their evil Capitalist empire (a belief held at the time by quite a few on the left, including my commie mother - see 4/11/2004). The sad thing for me was that neither of these facts were true and my dreams of a great global conflict, the likes of which the world had never seen, would never come to pass (I was very young and loved guns and playing war - at the age of six, nuclear war seemed like a great idea).

The lesson I learned from all this in the end was that everybody was lying to me, absolutely everybody. The Russians were lying on a grand scale. The Russian leaders lied to their own people about how food production was increasing, how we in the West were all decadent and brainwashed - half living in abject poverty while the other half lauded it over the poor and laughed as they starved. The Russians lied to the West about how powerful they were (always inflating their military might to ensure we feared them and never invaded) and they lied when they said they didn't have spies everywhere trying to bring down our governments and make us turn commie too.

The Americans lied to their people and to the world. They lied about the danger from the Soviets, claming they were planning to invade. They lied about how many weapons the Russians had, always over inflating the numbers so that we would fear them. They lied about how many weapons they had, always under stating this in order to convince us we needed bigger military budgets and so that we would still fear the evil Russians. They lied about how bad things were in Russia, showing images of giant bread queues and starving children, they lied about how the West was democratic and fair to all - the Americans lied.

The British government lied to me too. They lied that we were still a proud and fearsome nation. They decieved me into fear so that massive amounts could be spent on arms which seved only to make the rich arms manufacturers richer still. They lied about not having spies watching their own people, plants and covert operations within the trade unions and peace movements. They lied and held on to power.

Everyone held on to power.

All the fear and deceit, all the drills hiding under tables and the daily watching the news to see if the first bomb was going to fall today - it was all a grand lie, every part of it, a great deception to keep the people in power in power - and they are still there. The old guards and political families are still running the show. The defence companies are even richer and building bigger and nastier weapons. The so called 'peace dividend' where global military spending would decrease when Russian and America became friends again was all just so much hot air. The money kept on pouring into the military industrial complex and the people continue to be decieved.

Be afraid my subjects. Be afraid of that which I tell you to fear. Consume, consume and live in ignorance, then you will be good citizens, for fear and ignorance keeps us in power and without fear you will be free and we shall be as you, only then we shall live in fear.


Cake Blog

Cream Slice: As far as I can tell I haven't had one of these yet. Scrummy. From Sainsbury's, 2 for 99p. I had them both.


Menu

  • Sliced Beef
  • Kasha
  • Green Beans and Courgette
  • Russian Dressing


    Ingredients*

    Sliced Beef
    1 Small Joint (600g) Topside
    2 Tbsp Plain Flour
    3 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
    (Though Lard would be more traditional)
    3 Cloves
    Pinch Caraway Seeds
    Salt and Pepper
    		 Kasha
    300g Bulgar Wheat
    2 Rashers Bacon
    1 Large Onion
    2 Cloves Garlic
    200g Mushrooms
    Stock From the Beef
    		Russian Dressing
    2 Tbsp Pickled Capers
    2 Tbsp Horseradish Sauce
    1 Tbsp Wholegrain Mustard
    1 Shallot
    1 Tbsp White Wine Vinegar
    Dash Tabsasco Sauce



    Preparation

  • Beef: Slice the joint into thin strips. Dust each strip with a little seasoned flour and then fry in oil until borwn all over. Add the cloves and caraway, more pepper and salt and cover with 750ml water. Stew gently for 2 hours. When the beef is really tender drain off most of the stock off to use for the kasha, put the beef back on the heat and allow any remaining juice to thicken and make a gravy.
  • Kasha: First toast the buckwehat in a dry frying pan for about 5 minutes (moving continually). Remove the toasted buckwheat (this is now technically kasha). Add the oil to the pan and fry the sliced onions, bacon and minced garlic until the onion begins to brown. Add the chopped mushrooms and continue frying then add the kasha and the beef stock. Season, stir well then put the lid on and turn the heat down low and allow all the stock to soak up. After about 10 minutes test to see if the kasha is soft, if still a little crunchy add some more stock (if you have any left) or water. When ready it should have a consitstency like cous cous.
  • Russian Dressing: Finely mince the capers and shallot. Mix all the ingredients together and allow to infuse for an hour or so.

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    *All quantities are very approximate and for three people





    JCBorresen@GMail.com