Ok... I'm ALL ears.....!

Just Finished Reading: The Old Straight Track - Its Mounds, Beacons, Moats, Sites and Mark Stones by Alfred Watkins (FP: 1925)

This book was not at all what I expected. As one of the foundation texts to the New Age movement in the 1970’s and beyond I expected at least a healthy dollop of mysticism, myth and speculation. Whilst speculation did make its way into the narrative, how could it not, it was tempered with reason, logic and a fair bit of scepticism. But I’m running ahead of myself.

The author had a rather strange idea. Although he wasn’t the first to have it he might have been the first to properly systemise it. The strange idea is that prehistoric man, in England and in other places too, produced dead straight paths across the landscape and marked these tracks with stones, mounds (often burial mounds), pools of water and clefts in hillsides which enabled travellers – once on the path – to navigate across great distances with comparative ease. But this is not an idea the author plucked out of the air. Firstly there is the undoubted existence of burial mounds as well as single standing stones (as well as clusters of them) scattered across the English landscape. That can be taken as fact. But the leap the author makes is that these items are not scattered across the landscape in a random fashion – indeed far from it. Using maps extensively throughout the book the author shows that straight lines can be used linking not only two or three such items but four, five and more. Lower numbers might just be coincidental but extended links over miles of the countryside cannot, he maintains be accidental. There are man-made and with a purpose and existed long before the Romans arrived with their straight roads. I was actually very impressed by his logical reasoning. Not only did he discover previously unknown standing stones using his method – Lay Hunting – but he also had very reasonable explanations of oddities like paths that actually go through (rather than around) pools of water – the pools reflect both sunlight and moonlight allowing a walker or rider at ground level to navigate in poor lighting conditions.

One of the things I found particularly fascinating is how both place names and family names reflected the nature of the paths in that area and what they were primarily used for – transporting salt, clay or other items. The men themselves – experts in navigation as well as able managers of the numbers needed to erect the larger stones and arrange them in meaningful ways – gave their profession names to future villages as well as family names (or the bastardised versions that have made it down to us) that still exist today. I do love the meanings and origins of words and it was really interesting to see where names I know well came into existence.

But making his case for Lay Lines was not enough for the author. Although he had discovered many in his home country and in nearby regions he had also collected evidence from other hunters of lay lines far and wide. The field of lay lines was still, in 1925, a new one. To amass the evidence he needed he wanted others – readers of his books – to go out and discover their own lines in their own localities and gave them detailed instructions of how to find them. I imagine, in those far gone days, that it would have been quite an adventure for a local rambling group to spend a day or a weekend looking for prehistoric footpaths long before urbanisation and our incessant road building destroyed them. I suspect that away from civilisation they are still waiting to be found and walked along as they must have been long before the Roman Empire existed. I’m almost tempted to go find one. Who knows where it would lead? An interesting off-the-wall read and unexpectedly evocative of ancient times written by someone with a real passion for his subject. (S)   

The Must Have T-shirt for 2019/2020.

Cartoon Time.

Votes at 16: No demand, says polling expert

By Eleanor Gruffydd-Jones, BBC Sunday Politics Wales

18 May 2019

Votes for 16-year-olds in UK elections are all but inevitable, but there is no public demand or obvious advantage to it, a voting expert has said. A bill currently going through the Senedd would lower the voting age at the 2021 Welsh Assembly election. Prof Philip Cowley said evidence suggested 16 and 17-year-olds were less likely to vote than older groups. But the chair of the panel that backed votes at 16 in assembly polls said the move could revitalise democracy.

Sixteen and 17-year-olds voted for the first time in the Scottish independence referendum in 2014 and can now take part in Scottish parliament and local elections. They can also vote in Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man. Prof Cowley, from Queen Mary University of London, has written to the Welsh Assembly saying evidence from other countries with a lower minimum voting age suggests overall turnout would drop, because turnout for 16-and 17-year-olds tends to be lower than other groups. This was unless, he said, money was spent to specifically target the age group, like in the 2014 Scottish Independence referendum when 16-year-olds voted for the first time in the UK. "If young voters are ready to vote, then we should not need to allocate specific resources to mobilise them," he told BBC Sunday Politics Wales. "That we do, indicates that they are not ready."

He added: "Even some of the things you used to be able to do at the age of 16, say 10 or so years ago, you can no longer do, things like smoking, buying a firework for example, going into a tanning booth. All of these have changed recently and if they've changed at all, they've tend to change upwards towards 18. [Votes for 16] is coming. I think you can see with what's happening in Wales, what's already happening in Scotland. The pressure will then build up for elsewhere in the UK. When it happens, I don't think any of the advantages that are being claimed for it will manifest themselves but it is probably inevitable."

Prof Laura McAllister was chair of the expert panel that, as part of its report on how the Senedd could be developed, recommended votes for 16 and 17-year-olds in Welsh Assembly elections. She said lowering the vote would be a mechanism to revitalise democracy, "particularly if you align that with a programme of proper political education through the curriculum, and in an extra-curricular environment. We know that getting young people involved in the voting process, whilst they're still in a secure environment, generally living at home, is likely to be more successful than it is at 18 when they've either left home to go to university or entering a more turbulent phase of their life in terms of change." She said, looking at the evidence from parliamentary and local elections in Scotland, 16 to 18-year-olds voted in larger numbers than 18 to 25-year-olds. "So that tells you something at least about the potential that there is to engage young people in the political process," she added.

[I’m not convinced that dropping the voting age to 16 will achieve much unless, as Prof McAllister suggested, we start political education in schools – probably from age 11 I’d say. It’s something I’ve been personally advocating for years. I don’t think that the general population is anywhere nearly enough educated politically in this country. The problem is, of course, to not cross that line separating political education from political indoctrination. Now that could be a tough one…..]

Just Finished Reading: Misbehaving – The Making of Behavioural Economics by Richard H Thaler (FP: 2015)

Despite the fact that I’m still pretty much scratching the surface of economics I’ve long held the opinion that the underlying theories are seriously flawed. This book helped confirm that idea although in ways I wasn’t fully expecting. When I read about the subject years ago (pre-Blog) I was confused by ideas like ‘perfect knowledge’, ‘maximising utility’ and the idea that economic units – that’s you and me and your next door neighbour – behave rationally at all times. Just that particular nugget should raise alarm bells. But all of that – that people have somehow developed perfect knowledge of price alternatives, that we can all gauge to the penny which career choice is better over an entire lifetime and that we always buy exactly what we need at the best possible price and that no other considerations come into the decision. In such a world there are no recessions, unemployment does not exist, and inflation is fleeting as the market naturally adjusts to changes in supply and demand. Likewise economic decisions are not influenced by the weather, fashion, fads or internet ‘influencers’. Economics is, indeed, the prefect representation of theories that have grown up over generations along with increased mathematical rigor to say nothing of prestige and, indeed, Nobel Prizes.

Unfortunately, despite the protestations of the world’s greatest living Economists it’s all bullshit built on nothing more that ivory tower wishful thinking. OK, the author isn’t *quite* that brutal but he does lean that way. Back in the 1970’s he started having heretical views. Views that led him to think that maybe, just maybe, economics would have greater and more predictive power if it took into account how people – real people – thought about money and actually spent it. Using experiments more akin to those used in Psychology labs the author and a few radical collaborators started finding disturbing evidence that classic economics simply failed to understand the real world it was supposed to be explaining. With the advent of computers and the growth of economic databases it became increasing clear that the emerging Behavioural Economics had something to say and something to contribute to the study of Economic activity (go figure!). Over the next 40 years, grudgingly at first, Behavioural Economics moved from the lunatic fringe and into the mainstream. What was simple heresy has, slowly, become obvious. It was a long hard road and it’s not over yet. 

Told with a great deal of humour – a lot of it self-deprecating – the author shows how the history of Behavioural Economics unfolded and grew from a few voices in the wilderness to being invited in by governments to create ‘nudge units’ to help move people in the right direction in subjects like paying their taxes to taking up vaccinations. Along the way there’s a lot of resistance from mainstream economists (allowing much debate about its many shortcomings) and a lot of going back to basics to show – with DATA – how Behavioural Economics can explain activity that classical could not (or even could not recognise as a legitimate problem worthy of study). Although a little dry in places, complete with diagrams and graphs, this is still a very good and very useful to a whole new branch of economics that has only really existed in any recognised state for a few decades. A definite must read for anyone interested in the subject. More to come. 

Cartoon Time.

Summer…. At Last?

After weeks of grey skies and occasion (sometimes heavy) rain it looks like the weather has finally turned a corner. Today we had wall to wall blue skies (my favourite) with occasional fluffy clouds and rising temperatures (high of 64 degrees). One other thing that will be rising – apart from hemlines – is the pollen count. Fortunately that’s not as big a problem as it used to be. In my late 20’s to late 30’s I really dreaded the summer months. Essentially for 3-4 months I had a heavy cold complete with temperature, headaches, sore throat and constant running nose – and this was despite being on daily anti-histamines. It was no fun at all. The only real relief I had was being in an air-conditioned building. Not only was it a lot cooler but the air tended to be filtered.

It all started in my mid-20’s as I was due to leave University (the doctor blamed stress) and I tried the first over the counter medication I could find which proved to be of limited use. After much trial and error (and some helpful advice from a friend) I settled on a drug that helped me get through the day – not perfect but at least I could function (after a fashion). I did try everything to limit the symptoms especially at home. I didn’t go out much in the summer – ending up even pastier than usual – and has several air filters running all day whilst I was at work. Again they helped after a fashion. I supposed that this was just my life now. It was pretty miserable though. I’m quite fond of breathing – especially through my nose – which I found difficult throughout both the summer and the winter. Bummer!

Then, after only 15 years or so things began (slowly) to ease off. It was something I hardly noticed at first just thinking that my luck had changed and the pollen count just happened to be lower that day, that week or that summer. After about 20 years or so I stopped taking medication ahead of the summer months in order to build up some immunity. Whenever I felt my eyes starting to burn or the sniffles start I’d pop a pill and see the symptoms ease off. Sometimes I’d take a daily pill a few days in a row but overall I wasn’t popping pills anywhere as regularly as I had been. So around 30 years after I was regularly floored by the pollen (after pretty much ignoring it through my entire childhood and teenage years!) count I started to largely ignore it.

These days – indeed at this very moment – I can feel a mild irritation at the top of my nasal cavity and my eyes are burning a bit but it’s hardly a bother. At the beginning of this pollen filled journey I’d be blowing my nose every few minutes and feeling like death around now. I think it’s equally weird how my immune system has now started ((largely) to ignore pollen as it was weird when my system – for reasons unknown – went into overdrive whenever trees started feeling sexy. Most hay fever sufferers (so I understand) are allergic to either tree pollen or grass pollen. Some unlucky bastards are allergic to both. With me it’s always been tree pollen. So I get my symptoms early in the summer. Weirdly (again) on holiday with my ex in Portugal about this time of year (and fully expecting to suffer) I had zero symptoms the whole time being away. I can only guess that the trees spraying everywhere where different enough that my immune system ignored them. Of course as soon as we got home my nose immediately started running away with itself.

So I’m lucky in several ways. It looks like my strongly adverse reaction to tree pollen isn’t coming back any time soon and is, in fact, continuing to ease off and my strong immune response is pollen related only. I know several people with severe food allergies which I would be horrified to have – nuts, dairy, wheat – so I thank my DNA every day that I haven’t been visited by that particular (occasionally fatal) nuisance. But I am so grateful that 30 years of sneezing is about the end of it. Phew.   

The Berlin Airlift ends - 70 Years ago Today.

Cartoon Time.

Sooner than you would think I'm guessing..... [grin]

UK economy rebounds in first quarter

From the BBC

10th May 2019

The UK economy picked up in the first three months of the year after manufacturers' stockpiling ahead of Brexit helped to boost growth. Growth was 0.5% in the quarter, up from 0.2% in the previous three months, the Office for National Statistics said. The manufacturing sector grew at its fastest rate since 1988 in the period. The ONS said this was driven by manufacturers rushing to deliver orders before the original Brexit deadline of 29 March. Pharmaceuticals was one of the sectors most affected, expanding 9.4% between January and March. Previous business surveys had shown manufacturers stockpiling goods for Brexit in case the UK left the EU without a transition deal, which they feared could lead to delays at UK borders.

As well as manufacturers rushing to deliver orders before the UK was due to leave the EU, firms also stockpiled parts. This drove a surge in imports, with the total trade deficit - the gap between what the UK imports and exports - doubling in the first quarter to a record high, separate data from the ONS showed. The total trade deficit widened from £8.9bn to £18.3bn, driven partly by a sharp increase in imports of cars and gold [£6Bn worth!]. However, the UK's deadline to exit the EU has since been extended until the end of October after Prime Minister Theresa May asked the EU for more time to negotiate a deal.

Chancellor Philip Hammond said the figures showed the economy remained "robust". "These GDP figures this morning show again that the UK economy is performing robustly, despite the evidence of slowing global growth and the continued Brexit uncertainty at home - so it's good news," he told the BBC. But analysts have warned the impact of Brexit could mean the pick-up in growth is short-lived.  Tej Parikh, senior economist at business lobby group the Institute of Directors, said it could well be just "a flash in the pan". "Some businesses brought activity forward early this year in preparation for leaving the EU, so higher stocks and earlier orders have artificially bumped up the growth numbers. In the second quarter, many firms will be keen to run down their Brexit caches, which will drag on economic growth," he said. But Ruth Gregory, senior UK Economist at Capital Economics, said the figures offered some "encouraging signs that underlying growth gained some pace". She said household consumption growth was "solid" and pointed out that business investment grew "for the first time in four quarters".

[Stories like this are one reason why I don’t trust the pronouncements of Economists or Chancellors. It’s clear that the so-called ‘boost’ in the economy is from companies stockpiling like crazy because of their fears regarding a no-deal Brexit and getting out as many orders as possible to both avoid any increased tariffs and to get a war chest ready to tide them over any expected issues post-Brexit. This is not simply companies ‘doing well’ despite all of the doom and gloom from Project Fear. Likewise household consumption – hardly something to rely on – is probably people stockpiling (again) plus making purchases now in the expectation that prices will inevitably rise once we leave the single market. The sudden import in gold to the tune of SIX BILLION POUNDS in THREE MONTHS says it all really. People are hunkering down in anticipation of the hard times ahead. This is hardly the sign of an economy ‘doing well’.] 

...and so ends Star Wars Week. Now back to normal programming....... [lol]

If only we could teach them to open doors.....

Just Finished Reading: Enough Said – What’s Gone Wrong with the Language of Politics by Mark Thompson (FP: 2016)

I think it’s hard to argue against the fact that something is very wrong with the language of politics and politics itself today. With the ever present rise in Populism across the West as well as the ever plummeting trust in political leaders it is easy to become both cynical and despondent about the whole process. More often than not (and I largely agree with the author here) that is because of the language used – the political rhetoric – of politicians themselves as well as the journalists who report them. But this has not always been so nor need it continue (or if possible get worse).

Despite its poor reputation the skill of rhetoric has long been taught to and prized by those interested in political office. Part of the decline in the language of politics can be traced to the long decline in education in this skill – not just in the ‘political classes’ and journalists but also in the public itself. To be fully engaged in the political process of a nation a politically educated citizenry, an electorate, should be able to analyse a political utterance to understand what is being said and, more importantly, what is being left unsaid. Rhetoric is designed to sell a point of view and it is up to an educated voter to be able to discern if they are being sold something they actually wish to buy. But it is easy to portray all politicians as liars. Their political opponents certainly do – either directly or indirectly. When no argument is debated on its merits and where all facts are held up as nothing of the sort it should be expected that the voters either turn away in disgust or become hopelessly confused.

It is not surprising – all across the West – that Civility is becoming a faded memory. It is not enough that an opponent’s arguments are disputed they must, in full public view, be destroyed and the proponent themselves ridiculed and called out for being a fool or worse. Today, on both Right and Left, there is little room and even less appetite for compromise (and increasingly ‘dirty’ word) on any issue big or small. All beliefs strongly held are fundamental beliefs and any discussion, or even the possibility of debate, is viewed as practically heretical. If things can be admitted to be up for debate than one side or the other can be proven to be wrong (or at least weak) giving room for the other side to win. This is, it seems, literally unthinkable – never mind publically admissible.

That, the author rightly points out, is the fundamental problem today. We have lost our civility and, partially because of that fact, we are becoming increasingly uncivilized. With a widespread bunker mentality and a winner takes all philosophy we can only find ourselves in a war of political attrition where no side can ever claim ultimate victory without creating a desert and calling it some kind of peace. We all, politicians, journalists and members of the public need to understand political language, use it appropriately and call out those who abuse rhetoric to hide the facts, misdirect attention and try to still up populist sentiment to gain power. This book is a valuable contribution to that turn away from the political wilderness we seem to be heading towards. Knowing how our politicians and news outlets seek to manipulate us with the spoken and written word is a good start and this book is a good launch point if you want to be well armed or well defended in the political fights to follow. Recommended. 

Cartoon Time.

All @ Sea and Up in the Air

I’ve been playing with the labels again. Stephen started it by posting recently on a history of the Royal Navy. I made a comment about having some navy related (or at least seafaring related) books in various piles which got me thinking about how many such books I’d already read – a lot I discovered. In fact I was rather surprised by how many such books I had read – from expected topics like naval warfare in both world wars to the Titanic sinking and beyond. I had long been interested in the great voyages of discovery and had, since my teens and my growing fascination in all things SF, looked on sea stories as a sort of substitute for space stories. The carrier based War in the Pacific in particular felt like a good facsimile for interplanetary conflict (or maybe that’s just me).

Of course I naturally moved on from all things water based to all things of the air. Again I surprised myself in how few books I had read on aviation – most of which centred around WW2. The other thing that surprised me is that I seem (as I’m still adding) to have many more pictures of aircraft here that ships. I’ve already mentioned my interest in flying boats – most especially those of Imperial Airways which flew around the world/Empire between the world wars. Yet despite this interest (and the posting of multiple pictures and travel posters) I have yet to read anything about them in book form. Odd….. I do have an abiding interest in aerial combat and have read extensively on the subject (mostly pre-Blog) and will continue doing so. As will naval combat standing in for space combat operations I have long seen aerial combat likewise standing in for space combat from my teens onwards. Whenever I see space combat in movies or TV shows I always look at their ‘realism’ compared to what I know of both real historic naval and air combat scenarios. As you can imagine some are far more realistic than others. How actual space combat would really be? That might be something different entirely.

Despite the strong tug of war I’m going to try very hard to spread both my reading and pictures beyond the realm of conflict. I love, for example, tales of pioneers and there are plenty of those on the water and in the air. Likewise there are the explorers and adventurers with sails and wings. No doubt stories of the search for the North West Passage and the attempts to break the Sound Barrier will both appear here. No doubt I shall also be reading about heroic tales of navigation from the likes of Shackleton and others. I’m a sucker for heroics and I can’t help feeling that the cultural life of the world is diminished when heroes of old are forgotten or, worse, dismissed or denigrated. I’ll see what I can do about that (in my own very small way).

Looking through various book piles over the last week or so there was, as I expected, a much heavier preponderance of sea stories over air stories (even taking into account my collection of books about the Battle of Britain). Even looking at my Amazon Wish List I found a similar lean towards the sea. I’m sure that I can’t ‘blame’ my Viking heritage [lol] but I could try. Maybe it’s because I’ve been on far more boats/ships from rowing boats to aircraft carriers than I have been in aircraft: a few helicopters and commercial airlines. I do love a good air show though and attend them whenever I can. So, you should probably expect to be seeing more boats than planes to come at least in the near term. But we’ll see, won’t we? 

I wonder if that's to scale....?

Cartoon Time.

Minister considers 'all options' to boost vaccine uptake

From The BBC

4th May 2019

Health secretary Matt Hancock has said he is willing to look at "all options" to boost England's vaccination levels, including compulsory immunisation. Mr Hancock told the BBC he did not want to "reach the point" of imposing jabs, but would "rule nothing out". More than half a million children in the UK were unvaccinated against measles from 2010 to 2017, Unicef says. In March, the head of NHS England warned "vaccination deniers" were gaining traction on social media.

The health secretary was speaking after a report in The Times claimed almost 40,000 British parents had joined an online group calling for children to be left unimmunised against potentially fatal diseases such as tetanus. And in England, the proportion of children receiving both doses of the Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) jab by their fifth birthday has fallen over the last four years to 87.2%. This is below the 95% said by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to be the level necessary to protect a population from a disease. The UK was declared free of the highly contagious measles disease for the first time by the WHO in 2017. But in 2018, it experienced small outbreaks, and in March this year there was a sharp increase of cases across Greater Manchester.

Speaking on Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Hancock said: "Failure to vaccinate when there isn't a good reason is wrong. These people who campaign against vaccinations are campaigning against science - the science is settled. I don't want to have to reach the point of compulsory vaccination, and I don't think we are near there, but I will rule nothing out." He said the failure to vaccinate children put at risk those who could not be vaccinated for medical reasons. "Vaccination is good for you, good for your child, good for your neighbour and your community," he added.

[I do find it staggering that people are actively refusing to vaccinate their children. I can only guess, apart from an unfounded belief that it has a risk of harming the child (based on a repeatedly discredited report by a single doctor), that people have simply forgotten how easily these diseases spread and just how dangerous they are. Without any experience of rampant epidemics – ironically because of the positive effect of vaccination programmes! – some people can no longer see the danger, indeed the criminal irresponsibility – of not vaccinating their children. I have no issue at all with legally enforced vaccination for this sort of thing. People should simply not be allowed to put their children or the larger community at risk because of ignorance or their crazy beliefs.]

Happy Star Wars Day! May the Fourth be With You... A Week of Star Wars related postings to come.

Just Finished Reading: Four Sisters – The Lost Lives of the Romanov Grand Duchesses by Helen Rappaport (FP: 2014)

It was all for love. Princess Alix of Hesse, grand-daughter of Queen Victoria, was besotted with her third cousin, Nicholas Alexandrovich heir to the Russian throne. Luckily for Alix the young future emperor had already fallen for the ethereal beauty and would let nothing stand in his way – the fact that she was German, the fact that she was Lutheran rather than Orthodox and the fear that she carried the taint associated with Victoria’s children. Against all of the odds they finally married and, despite many misgivings, determined the rule the vast Russian Empire and bring it within the modernised European fold. But first the young bride must perform her most sacred duty – she must produce an heir to the Romanov throne. Soon the announcement was made – the Empress was with child. Hopes were raised and then dashed when a girl was born – Olga. After a troubled birth and a short recovery a second pregnancy was announced. Hopes raised again and were again dashed with the birth of a second girl – Tatiana. Rumours began to fly. The family were cursed. Russia had been abandoned by God. The Empress was deliberately producing girls to undermine the Empire at the behest of Germany. With pressure for a male heir grew Alix became pregnant again and produced a third girl – Maria. The country was convulsed in an existential panic. Without a male heir the line of succession was blurred and subsidiary houses began jostling for position. As the political climate darkened and rumours intensified a fourth pregnancy was announced. The tension built until the birth of a fourth child – yet another girl: Anastasia. With the Empresses health declining and everything riding on her ability to produce an heir her fifth pregnancy had the fate of the Empire riding on it. Could the birth of a fifth girl be the end of her reign if not her husbands? To everyone’s relief the fifth child was the long awaited male heir – Alexey. The country rejoiced. At long last the Romanov dynasty was saved. But what few knew was that when the umbilical cord has been cut it bled, and bled, and bled. It was an outcome scarcely imagined and a word that was only spoken in whispers behind closed doors – haemophilia. As the political situation in Russia slowly spiralled out of control and the war against Germany going badly the Romanov’s drew in on themselves and became exiles in their own country. Increasingly isolated and out of touch with the prevailed mood of the people and their aristocratic ruling elite their championing of the radical monk Rasputin, apparently the only one who could stop Alexey’s bleeding did nothing to reassure them that the country was in good hands. With revolution in the air the Empress decided to stay in place, wait for her husband’s return and look after her sick children struck down with measles. Too late she learnt the error of her choice as the palace was surrounded and later occupied by rough Bolshevik forces. Now the fate of the Romanovs and that of the Revolution were entwined for good or ill.

Although I knew the rough details of the end of the Romanov imperial family I had no real idea of the detail of their slow demise and sudden end in a dank cellar in Ekaterinburg. I certainly know a LOT more now – maybe too much. The author’s attention was on the family and their life away from the public eye. What I would’ve liked is more about what was going on in the wider Russian world and how that impacted on the Romanov’s existence. There was some of that but, I thought, not enough to ground things fully in the historical and political context. The only real point of view presented was from the Romanov family and their immediate retainers with the occasional insight from visitors who left records of their impressions. I can certainly see why it won an award. As a family history it’s very good. I guess that I was expecting much more from the revolutionary side of things. Interesting for anyone looking for a more rounded view of the Russian revolution.           

Cartoon Time.