YesBut she was beautiful once - Part 1

For the photograph posted on YesBut’s Image on 21 May 2007, Ozlady suggested the caption - “Hag drags bag while havin' a fag!”

The photo graph suggested the following story to me:

Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Sophie Holstein-Gottorp, to be correct by the time she was born she wasn’t an Imperial Highness - the empire had ceased to exist with the Russian revolution. And being the youngest daughter of a Russian refugee family (albeit related to the Russian Royal family) living in 1950s Paris, she wasn’t much of a Grand Duchess. But there was something about her, not just her stunning beauty, but there was an air of sophistication, which drew men to her like bees to honey.

She was working in a bar when Doug met her. They exchanged a few words, he was intrigued by her accent - she might be the one he had been looking for. He sat sipping his bear till he had the opportunity to talk to her. Once he heard of her Russian ancestry he knew he was onto a winner. Over the next three weeks he took things very slowly, now that he had found her the last thing he wanted was to be scare her off. He took her to dinner, to the ballet - even though he was bored and nearly fell asleep.

It was only after he had slept with her, and was confident she was well and truly hooked, did he reveal he worked for the CIA. Up till then he had maintained his cover story of being a young footloose American writer in Paris. Slowly he nourished and coached her until he knew she was ready to do his bidding. She was to ingratiate herself with Aleksei Machitov, the 2nd Secretary at the USSR Embassy - and assumed by the CIA to be the KGB Head for Western Europe.

He orchestrated a meeting at a dance given by the British Embassy to celebrate a victory of their croquet team against the Argentinean Embassy. She was beautiful and he was charming and they soon became lovers. For months on her love bed Sophia extracted reams of top secret information. This she passed on to Doug using a shortwave radio he had given her.

(To be continued tomorrow - Bookmark this page).


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At The Going Down Of The Sun And In The Morning We Will Remember Them

Viewers watching last nights news broadcast were privileged to witness a scene filmed on the arid planes of Afghanistan. As flag draped coffins were loaded onto a Hercules transport plane, ranks of soldiers stood to attention paying respect to two fallen comrades. In turn soldiers paid tribute to two fallen heroes. As the transport plane flew over the assembled forces the pilot dipped its wing in salute.

In the First World War the British Army were described as lions lead by donkeys. Fortunately they are still lions; unfortunately they are still lead by donkeys. The British Army is poorly paid, inadequately equipped and their families are housed in substandard houses. But the greatest indictment against the donkeys is the way they have fail to look after wounded soldiers.

The armed forces are poorly served by both the Civil Servants and Ministers of the Ministry of Defence. This Whitehall office block remains in a time warp. It always prepares and plans for the previous war. In the opening months of WW1 soldiers were expected to charge on horseback German artillery. It is a recognised fact that in Iraq and Afghanistan British soldiers are sent out on patrol in Land Rovers - perfect for the Yorkshire dales, but not when coming under hostile fire and roadside bombers.

Tomorrow the House of Commons will debate the replacement of the Trident System. A system designed to meet the needs of the Cold War. Again the Government want to spend £30 Billion on a system designed to fight a previous war, (it is estimated the system will cost £100 Billion over 50 years). In the future, who will the Trident missiles be used against? They say rogue states, such as Iran and North Korea. In the future rogue states will not have to develop nuclear bombs and intercontinental missiles.

Look at one event in November 2006, Alexander Litvinenko, the Russian ex-spy was poisoned with polonium -210. Traces of the highly radioactive metalloid were found in several locations in London. A rogue state could bring any city in the UK to a stop by simply having a suicide bomber walk its streets. No bomb would be detonated but the radio active source they carried would contaminate everyone they came into proximity. Over the next few days, people will start to feel lethargic and nauseous; soon the hospitals would be overwhelmed by people suffering from nuclear radiation poisoning. Under those circumstances a nuclear submarine with a missile system patrolling the Atlantic or Indian Ocean will be as useful as a sieve to carry water.

But don’t worry the Government is putting in place a system to prevent such an event - Identification Cards!