The Suffering Bastard

If you're really into mixed drinks, you may have heard of this one before. I had not. Until I came across it in the papers of a lieutenant colonel serving in Britain's Special Operations Executive. The man had parachuted into Burma during World War II to organize resistance among the Karen hill tribes. He conducted sabotage and ambush operations against the Japanese in intensely unforgiving jungle terrain. Clearly, the man earned the title "suffering bastard" (and by "bastard" I mean hero, in case you had any doubts).

So how do you make a suffering bastard? I came across several recipes on the internet, but none of them were given by SOE veterans who dropped into the jungle to fight the bad guys. So here's my man's recipe, taken from the scrawlings I found on the top of a page in the archives:

4 dashes of Angostura bitters
1 part gin
1 part rum
juice of 1 lime
ginger ale
mint
slice of lemon

So give it a try! If you don't like it, blame the brave men who saved the world (or just try a different version).

Today's image comes from Trader Vic's. It does not represent an SOE-certified suffering bastard, but another variation.

Monks lead largest Burma protest

This just in from the BBC:

Tens of thousands of monks and civilians around Burma have held the biggest protest marches against the military government yet. Eyewitnesses say up to 100,000 people marched peacefully through Rangoon with monks demanding better living conditions and national reconciliation. The military government has so far showed restraint over the protests. Monks are highly revered in Burma and any move by the junta to crush their demonstrations would spark an outcry.

Monks seize troops in Burma town

Yes, folks, you read that headline correctly. The BBC reports:

Twenty Burmese security officials who were taken captive for several hours by Buddhist monks have been released. The officials arrived at the monastery in the town of Pakokku to apologise for injuries caused during a protest on Wednesday... but angry monks set fire to their vehicles and refused to let them leave.... The officials were freed after a senior abbot intervened.

Reality is far stranger than fiction.