Half Dozen Game

Mike Bulgakov

G.O.A.T.
2. The Taj Mahal

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Mike Bulgakov

G.O.A.T.
6. Great Wall of China

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Anything Scottish:

1. The Antonine Wall

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The Antonine Wall is a remarkable historical monument that stretches across central Scotland, from Bo'ness on the Firth of Forth to Old Kilpatrick on the River Clyde. Built by the Romans in the 2nd century AD, it served as a barrier between the Roman Empire and the native Caledonian tribes of Scotland.
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Mike Bulgakov

G.O.A.T.
6. Dangerous when fermented: sorghum & rice

Sorghum (fermented to make Moutai, a distiller of baiju)
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Prior to the Nixon’s arrival in Beijing in 1972, U.S. Deputy National Security Adviser Alexander Haig had wired the following warning: “UNDER NO REPEAT NO CIRCUMSTANCES, SHOULD THE PRESIDENT ACTUALLY DRINK FROM HIS GLASS IN RESPONSE TO BANQUET TOASTS.” This was well-considered advice, which balanced diplomatic niceties against the risk of unleashing Moutai, a potent sorghum spirit, on a president famous for his hot temper and low tolerance. During the banquet Zhou Enlai had delighted Nixon by demonstrating that baijiu contained so much alcohol that one could pour a measure into a bowl and light it ablaze. Nixon returned to Washington with a case of Moutai and attempted to recreate the effect for his daughter in a tea saucer, failing to predict that the heat would shatter the porcelain and ignite the table. If not for a fast-acting Secret Service agent, baijiu might have prematurely cost Nixon the White House.
https://americandiplomacy.web.unc.e...omacy-a-diplomats-guide-to-drinking-in-china/


Rice (fermented to make sake)
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Delicious uses of rice:

1. Mission-style burritos

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https://www.kqed.org/news/11961178/what-is-a-mission-style-burrito-maybe-a-myth
 

Larry Duff

G.O.A.T.
2. In the early 80s a new group appeared in Liverpool called The Cherry Boys. They were expected to become massive but sadly never did. At shows their fans would throw rice around and it became known as "Give it rice". They released an EP called, Give it rice.

 

Mike Bulgakov

G.O.A.T.

Mike Bulgakov

G.O.A.T.
5. Carnival of Spies

Austria and the 'business' of spying

Situated close to the Iron Curtain, neutral Austria was a convenient listening post during the Communist era, according to Siegfried Beer, historian and founder of the Austrian Center for Intelligence, Propaganda and Security Studies. "Being based in Vienna during the Cold War, meant intelligence services could organise all kinds of things into Yugoslavia, into Hungary, into Czechoslovakia, even as far as Poland," he says.

"The Austrian government was eager to remain neutral. So it developed an atmosphere in which everybody was pretty cosy and profited from each other. It was a business, you know. "Espionage was a business. It still is. It brings a lot of people with a lot of money and a lot of support into the country."

The classic Cold War movie, The Third Man, shows how occupied post-war Vienna was divided into four Allied zones, controlled by the British, the Americans, the French and the Soviets.

Today the Iron Curtain has gone, but the spies remain.
These days, Vienna is home to one of the headquarters of the United Nations, and the European security body, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). That means that many countries have not just an embassy, but up to two more diplomatic missions to the international organisations. These provide both diplomatic immunity and cover for spies. The annual report of the Austrian Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Counterterrorism (BVT) says Austria is a "favoured area of operations" for foreign spies and the number of intelligence agents remains "high".

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-46228163
 
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