For two-hour stretches over three days, the cat lay on a cushioned pedestal in Mashable's tent and conventioneers waited in line for hours to have their photo taken with the nonplused puss.
This unprovoked act of aggression caught Thatcher unprepared, and for 36 hours she was nonplused and uncertain: The military and logistical objections to launching a combined-forces counterattack from 8, 000 miles away were formidable.