As Advertised In King Lear...

I'm eating samphire. 

Doesn't taste of much, is very salty, juicy- has a crunch to it. I've tried it fresh- and fried. Both are good.

I like it that we're rediscovering these foods our many times great grandparents ate and our more recent ancestors abandoned. 

I wonder whether samphire is still harvested by brave souls dangling by ropes against cliff faces...

Vladimir The Vacant

I've always thought Putin was smart. Amoral, autocratic and smart. The consummate Machiavel. 

But Masha Gessen- who has met the man and written a book about him- thinks otherwise. In an article in the Telegraph Magazine she is quoted as saying he's "an idiot. He's an uneducated, uncurious man who has particular instincts in terms of holding on to power and is a talented manipulator. But that doesn't make him have even average intelligence..."

If Putin is an idiot but still runs rings around most other world leaders what does that tell us about them?