I vaguely remember the wall going up (I was 10 at the time). It seemed mad, impossible - you can't build a wall around a whole city, not even the Russians can get away with that. But they did, and there we were, thirty years later, accepting it as if it was the most normal thing in the wall.
Until somebody decided it wasn't. Which was great. But what are we going to get used to next?
You could see signs in Britain saying "No dogs, blacks or Irish" until the late 1960s.
Now they say "No travellers". Plus ça change.
I'm familiar with the term "shanks' mare" for being on foot, but this is the first time I've encountered "shanks' pony". Where did you pick that up, IYDMMA?
I think "shank's pony" is the standard version in Britain. Certainly I've used it for 50 years and only recently encountered "shank's mare".
As a fellow countryman of Keegan, I confess to having thought the Gettysburg Address was 10, Main Street, Gettysburg. But if I was planning to write about it in a book, I'd familiarise myself with it. I can only assume that in this case Keegan was relying on memory across 50 years or so, but even then, you'd think that once you'd read the thing the gist of it would stay with you. It's not complex.
Teresa's point about rivers in American history can be generalised to any other land mass, and is surprisingly little understood. Generally, when I come across a historian who understands rivers I come away impressed, even if they're weak in other respects. You'd think that Keegan, who must understand rivers as battlefield features (about #7 in the list of what's important about them in history), might get it. Shame he doesn't.
Transatlantically, I simply can't see any down side to Rep. Grayson finding his voice. The legislature, any legislature, OUGHT to be a Hogarthian scrum, because its members ought to be advancing or defending deeply held principles with all the passion they can muster.
I'm deeply suspicious of politicians who always try to civilise the process. Essentially they're saying that the debate should be restricted to a narrow consensus within which it doesn't much matter who wins. And that's wrong. Much of the time it does matter.
The British House of Commons has been blessed for many years with Dennis Skinner, one of the last members to understand this. They keep trying to shut him up; they haven't succeeded yet. I believe he's retiring at the next election, and we'll all be poorer for it, but he should go to work as an adviser to Alan Grayson.
Espresso machine from about 1958 (or maybe before).
If IBM came along as said, "We need Michigan, Maine, Oregon... etc., would we hand over the land?
What worries me from afar is that if IBM asked for those specific states, the people now forming the anti-health care claques would say, "Sure, take them."
So much of this, like every issue that has arisen since Obama emerged as a serious candidate, has been overdetermined by the unfinished business of 1861/5 that I wonder if you'll ever achieve anything until you settle that.
I can't get an idea of the scale of this thing, but it strikes me there are significant features of a Roman camp which are not there - most notably the viae. Your standard castra had a wide road leading from the main gate up to the central administrative block and continuing behind it, and another crossing the camp in front of said block. These gave the troopd space to form up and enabled them to march in and out in formation.
There's maybe a path leading into this one, but the others are missing, most notably the transverse one. So I'd go with it having been built by someone who'd heard about Roman camps, as suggested above.
Also, did the Romans ever build camps on lake islands? The purpose of permanent camps was usually to control the surrounding territory, which isn't so easy if you have to embark your troops in boats before making a sally, and then disembark them, which is a very vulnerable operation.
But I'd love to know what it is.
Thinking up the alibis that everyone's forgotten
Just another mummy's boy gone to rotten
They pat some good boys on the back and put some to the rod
But I never thought they'd put me in the
Goon squad....
The train from Arth-Goldau pulled in over a minute late
Um, in some countries that almost qualifies for ridiculously early.
My neighbor's bitching about the other one; it drops apples on his side of our property line
So why doesn't he stop bitching and eat them? So he doesn't have to buy imported fruit that week.
This has always struck me as one of those "is the glass half full, or half empty?" kind of things.
Isn't it rather a reworking of:
I've heard you say many times that you're better than no one
And no one is better than you;
If you really believe that, you know you have nothing to win
And nothing to lose...
which may or may not be true, but at least offers a way forward.
Oops. Remembered the name wrong @55. Link to the original story here.
Terry @106, I blame the parents, myself.
Oh absolutely. Though it has to be better than Richard Head, which is also attested. I'm reminded of the story of the woman called Dickson who tried to join a social networking site and was rejected by some filter. She got so mad she tried to register as "Penisson", and was accepted without trouble.
Caroline @50, I live about 15 miles from Penistone, whence the lawyers ancestors presumably hailed. I wouldn't make a special journey, though.
No love for my favourite version? Moving Hearts from the eponymous album, with Christie Moore singing to bring tears to your eyes.
89. You also forgot Newfoundland (1907). Arguably the original Dominions are best regarded as W2.x (1...6), with versions of W3.x implemented by the Statute of Westminster, 1931. W4 would be the "new Commonwealth" dominions, and possibly W5 (or W3.1.1 [why does that look horribly familiar?]) for the expanded Canada of 1949.
Josh, a 14th century Catalan mystic pioneered electoral systems math? More, please!
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