Just Finished Reading: The Weaponisation of Everything – A Field Guide to the New Way of War by Mark Galeotti (FP: 2022) [229pp] 

The classic image of modern war, that of tanks rolling across fields (or deserts) accompanied by helicopter gunships engaging enemy units at range is, seemingly, a thing of the past – and not just because of the drone experience in Ukraine. War is incredibly expensive as the US is finding out in Iran. Even so-called Superpowers are not gifted with infinitely deep pockets or weapon production lines that can be sped up at a moment's notice. What Great Powers (again so-called) are finding out, or more accurately re-learning, is that apparently overwhelming military power does not always or easily translate into victory – especially quick victory. Apparently 'weak' countries can still hit back and hit back HARD. Knowing that they are weak by almost every metric means that when they fight, they need to avoid facing a much stronger enemy on the battlefield and most especially avoid fighting an enemy on the battlefield of THEIR choosing. To defeat a much stronger enemy you have to fight elsewhere, and this is where hybrid or asymmetrical warfare comes into play. 

It does seem quite strange, even frankly bizarre, that countries fully capable of destroying the world couldn't seem to defeat guys in sandals carrying AK-47's but we have the example of Vietnam. Likewise, it was assumed by many experts that the Russian invasion of Ukraine would be over in a few weeks or a month at most. Afterall, Russia boasted probably the second-best military in the world. Unfortunately for them time and technology had moved on. The Russians fought as if the Cold War had never ended while the Ukrainians fought increasingly in the 21st century so that a four-week war has now lasted more than four years. Unable to win on the battlefield Russia has deployed other tactics (on top of regular ballistic missile strikes) both in Ukraine and across Europe including employing locals to sabotage factories and other infrastructure targets, fund opposition parties on both the Left and Right to undermine political stability and spread disinformation across the world using the megaphone that is Social Media. Of course they are not alone in this. Countries across the world are using the Internet to spread propaganda to bolster their own position and undermine their perceived enemies. Effectively mercenaries are being hired to cause problems elsewhere who might even be unaware who they are working for. Contractors spy for the highest bidder (or even multiple bidders) to acquire political, personal or financial information to use against their handlers' opponents... and so it goes on, and on.  

This is the message of this disturbing and equally fascinating book. War hasn't gone away, quite the opposite. War, as politics by other means, has simply adapted to the new reality of very expensive weapons systems and limited budgets. Where a $10K drone can kill a million-dollar tank who is going to send that tank into harm's way? Instead, why not pay some disaffected group to plant a bomb under your opponent's car and take advantage of the resulting political chaos? Such new(ish) modes of warfare certainly go a long way to explain some of the seemingly random issues showing up across the world from air traffic control failures, denial of service attacks, plane crashes, and timely 'accidents'. The 'upside' to all of this – if you can call it that – is the reduction of cities being carpet bombed with the resultant death toll. The downside is that such methods of war become both ubiquitous and perpetual. We are always at war and war is everywhere. That's not exactly a pleasant way of being.  

This was definitely an eye-opening read showing how things have changed in the relatively recent past and how military decisions going forward are going to have to change. It's never going to be cost effective to use $5 million dollar missiles to shoot down $20K drones and you have to start wondering if $100 million dollar jets have much functionality on a modern hybrid battlefield (never mind a $10 billion dollar aircraft carrier). Definitely a recommended read for anyone interested in modern/future warfare and who wants to understand some of the stranger headlines and news stories of our increasingly complicated and dangerous world. 

Solid answer....!

Happy Birthday: William Dampier (1651 – March 1715) was an English explorer, pirate, privateer and naturalist who became the first Englishman to explore parts of what is today Australia, and the first person to circumnavigate the world three times. He has also been described as Australia's first natural historian, as well as one of the most important British explorers of the period between the 16th-century explorer Sir Francis Drake and the 18th-century explorer James Cook; he "bridged those two eras" with a mix of piratical derring-do of the former and scientific inquiry of the latter.

Dampier's expeditions were among the first to identify and name a number of plants, animals, foods and cooking techniques for a European audience, being among the first English writers to use words such as avocado, barbecue and chopsticks. In describing the preparation of avocados, he was the first European to describe the making of guacamole, named the breadfruit plant, and made frequent documentation of the taste of numerous foods foreign to the European palate at the time, such as flamingo and manatee.

After impressing the Admiralty with his book A New Voyage Round the World, Dampier was given command of a Royal Navy ship and made important discoveries in western Australia, before being court-martialed for cruelty. On a later voyage he rescued Alexander Selkirk, a former crewmate who may have inspired Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe. Others influenced by Dampier include George Anson, James Cook, Horatio Nelson, Charles Darwin, and Alfred Russel Wallace.

Jonathan Swift mentions Dampier in his Gulliver's Travels as a mariner comparable to Lemuel Gulliver, and the novel itself occasionally parodies Dampier's travel books as well as other tales of exploration.

He is cited over 80 times in the Oxford English Dictionary, notably on words such as "barbecue", "avocado", "chopsticks", and "subspecies". That is not to say he coined the words, but his use of them in his writings is the first known example in English.

He recorded the first English language recipes for guacamole and mango chutney.

[Side Note: He was baptised on 5 September, but his precise date of birth is not recorded]

Just Finished Reading: Ultra-Processed People – Why Do We All Eat Stuff That Isn't Food... and Why Can't We Stop? By Chris van Tulleken (FP: 2023) 

Growing up my mother cooked most of our meals from scratch (wonderful substance and SO versatile). She'd be in the kitchen chopping, mixing, heating and produce decent filling meals. She was never a great cook – except maybe for her scones which I miss to this day – but we never went hungry no matter the circumstance. Of course, some of the food was more processed, coming in tins (how could we possibly live without Heinz baked beans?) and sometimes packets (when ready meals started coming out in the later 70's and mother & I started experimenting with curries (which my older brother called 'foreign muck'!) and chillies. But it was only later, when I went to university in the early 80's that I started having what would probably be called ULTRA processed food - essentially 'food' that had more contact with a factory than it did with a farm. After we moved off campus in our 2nd year we ate some very questionable food essentially because it was dirt cheap. After reading this book I now understand more just why it was so cheap and exactly why we kept going back for more. 

In essence I am a lazy eater. Some of my friends are (or have been) very food focused and enjoy both preparing and eating food of a wide variety. Food, apart from the basic need of consuming it or dying, has never really interested me. Naturally there are foods I like to eat and some that I still miss after becoming a vegetarian 25+ years ago, but I don't obsess over it. My brother often said that if he could take a pill each day and didn't need to eat anything else he would do so. I'm not QUITE that bad but I appreciate where he's coming from. Although I do get some pleasure from food that pleasure is not my primary motivation for eating it. In essence, at least to me, food is mostly about fuelling the body. Anything else is, all joking aside, garnish. 

With that out of the way [grin] what has that got to do with this interesting and alarming book? I think that's there's two ways of looking at it – personal and global. From a global point of view, we've seen a significant increase in obesity just about everywhere as well as an increase in the number and severity of numerous other diet related health issues. At the same time (surely not coincidental) is the creation and explosive growth of 'food' that wouldn't be recognised as such by previous generations. Although it might be difficult to PROVE that one actually CAUSES the other – not unlike smoking despite the fact that the link between it and cancer has been clear for some time now – it's not too difficult to show the likelihood of a link. So, there's that... 

On a more personal level I don't think that my eating habits are producing any obvious health related issues. I've had eczema (for example) all of my life – it runs in the family – and these days any flare up is a rare occurrence and (normally) quickly relents. Nothing else comes to mind. I did gain weight from my 40's onwards – after being the same weight for decades no matter what I ate – but that's likely to be metabolism/age related rather than diet. I've gained some more weight since retiring but, again, I think that's mostly activity rather than diet related. Like most people I do eat 'junk' from time to time knowing that it's not 'real' food. I used to be a great fan of Pringles – which, interestingly, gets its own CHAPTER in this book – but haven't indulged in a while (and probably never will again after reading this!). I still eat crisps (or 'chips' to my American readers) probably more than I should but I think I need to odd 'vice' to tide me over. It's not like I'm living off them. So, although I do periodically indulge in UPF (Ultra-Processed Food) I think I do so in moderation. [Side note: despite knowing the chemical concoction that is the MacDonalds 'strawberry' milkshake I still low-level crave it every time I pass a MaccyD's....] 

One of the things I will be doing going forward is spending more time READING ingredients lists on the things I buy (or am thinking of buying). The author gives some rule-of-thumb ways (some I'm sure are a little tongue in cheek) for spotting UPF: It comes in a plastic bag; it has more than 5 ingredients [Side note: My local supermarket sells its own brand Tortilla chips that has 3 – Maize flour, Rapeseed oil & Salt... and they're SUPER cheap too!], it has a LONG shelf life, it contains flavours, colours or both. It's not hard and fast that its UPF if it has one or two of these but if it has more than two... it's probably not real food. 

I'm only really scratching the surface of what this book covers and I'm missing out evidence of environmental damage, transportation costs, pollution, unknown or long-term health risks, damage to existing local or indigenous food supplies, control of what we eat by a handful of GIANT corporations... and so it goes. I think that the fact we call it a food INDUSTRY kind of gives the game away. Although I don't think that this is as life changing or impactful as some of the blurb comments make out, I think it'll encourage people (including me) to ask many more questions about what we eat and what it's doing to us and our world. More on Food and Health to come (as they're two subjects I know FAR too little about). Recommended unless it might tip you into paranoia!