The Off Topic Topic

[HVC]

Also, why do Brit's call it beetroot? Do you call carrots carrotroot or potatoes potatoetubers?

[Josquius]

What else would we call beetroot?

With carrot the leaves are pretty useless so I guess its not worth specifying you're eating the root.

[HVC]

What else would we call beetroot?

With carrot the leaves are pretty useless so I guess its not worth specifying you're eating the root.

You can eat carrot tops. Good in salad. As far as i know it's as common as eating beet greens. Unless you count chard as beet greens, but then you might as well count parsley as carrot tops since they're in the same family (or celery if you want to get really pedantic )

[Grey Fox]

In a scone?

From the description:

Our No. 1 Balsamic Beetroot & Walnut Tarts make a colourful and delicious festive main course. The crisp shortcrust pastry is filled with chunks of balsamic glazed beetroot and a creamy beetroot mix, topped with crunchy walnut and pumpkin seeds.

As I'm from Liverpool I absolutely love pickled beetroot (traditional accompaniment to scouse). But I think when I've prepared beetroot at home it's always been roasted.

https://maplefromcanada.ca/recipes/maple-beet-scones/

It might be extremely Canadian 😆

[Jacob]

I never had beetroot that wasn't marinated or in a scone.

You can oven-roast beets like all sorts of other vegetables.

[Syt]

Daily Express, 1st Dec 1939:



"Finns Surrender", "Who killed the fuehrer"

 

[Valmy]

WWII must be have been very confusing for the subscribers of that newspaper.

[Sheilbh]

Plus ca change on Russians targeting a railway station and bombing civilian flats and hotels instead though.

[DGuller]

I wonder what the point of publishing such stories is.  Bullshit works best when it's not easily falsifiable, the Finns surrendering part would be easily falsifiable pretty quickly.

[Sheilbh]

I wonder what the point of publishing such stories is.  Bullshit works best when it's not easily falsifiable, the Finns surrendering part would be easily falsifiable pretty quickly.

I don't think it would have been easily or quickly falsifiable in 1939 for all sorts of reasons.

Also this is on the Express. The Daily Mirror's front page on that day was: "FINLAND YIELDS TO REDS: GOVT. GO". I think that may have been the best information available on 30 November 1939 (especially with all the practical and legal restrictions of reporting in wartime).

On 2 December the Express has moved to: "THE WAR GOES ON!"

I'd just add that the Daily Worker (now Morning Star) have: "UPRISING IN FINLAND" (out of interest I kept browsing and see that a few days later their headline is about "SOVIETS LARGE SCALE AID FOR FINNISH PEOPLE'S GOVERNMENT")....plus ca change.

[Syt]

It seems the Soviets immediately "recognized" a Finnish puppet government as legitimate when they invaded. Which apparently got picked up as the Finns having surrendered initially.

[celedhring]

Daily Express, 1st Dec 1939:



"Finns Surrender", "Who killed the fuehrer"

 

I'm still debating whether this is a better or worse alternate reality (given that it probably makes the Soviets stronger).

[Sheilbh]

It seems the Soviets immediately "recognized" a Finnish puppet government as legitimate when they invaded. Which apparently got picked up as the Finns having surrendered initially.

It really is a playbook isn't it - there are echoes.

I went down a little of a rabbit hole - looking at the Times on that day and it looks like as well as that the Finnish government resigned (according to a wire report from the British United Press). It was hoped that a new government could negotiate terms and the Soviets had given a 3am deadline to surrender.

The next day, Times headline "Finland fighting back" noting many Soviet planes brought down, "puppet 'people's government' set up by Moscow" and "Mr Roosevelt's Scathing Denunciation". But going on that Finnish forces are "reported to be holding their own and to have inflicted losses on the Soviet aircraft and tanks". They go on to cover the new cabinet which has been formed "on a broader basis", waying they will be prepared to open ngotiations to settle the conflict peacefully, "it is firmly determined to defend the country against Bolshevism".

Looking at some of the archive sites it's amazing how many papers were printing and how many pages and stories they were running. I'd never thought of it but I think in my head it was a bit like the General Strike with paper rationing and only a few still going.

[HVC]

So Jornos have always strived for clickbaity headlines and speed over accuracy

[Jacob]

I think at that time it was more that they had uncertain information by printing time and went with the best they had, which sometimes resulted in incorrect headlines. This was probably exacerbated by misinformation being deliberately circulated.