Friday: Hili dialogue

25 thoughts on “Friday: Hili dialogue”

1. (Luckily now we have the EU and European countries don’t invade each other much any more.)

   Maybe between Brexit and an American president who’s urged France and other nations to leave the EU, that will all change. That’s what a former KGB colonel to the East is hopin’.

   1. I may be wrong, but I think that the last time an EU country invaded another EU country was Britain and Germany respectively in 1945. Of course, neither was in the EU at the time.

      1. To my knowledge, two functioning democracies have never gone to war against each other.

         1. There may be an exception to the rule that two functioning democracies have never gone to war with each other. This would depend on how you define democracy. When the South seceded and created the Confederate States of America, it had, arguably, a functioning democracy. Its national government was elected (congress and president) as well as its state governments. Of course, a sizeable portion of its population was enslaved. If it was a democracy at all, it was a white man’s democracy. The North could be characterized such as well, since most African-Americans were excluded from the political process. But, initially, the Lincoln government did not go to war with the South to end slavery, but rather to end secession. So, was this historical incident an exception to the rule? It is a fun parlor game to debate.

            1. Only in America, as the saying goes.

               Probably at least merits an asterisk.

            2. And the Confederacy is only part of the English-speaking world to suffer military catastrophe.

            3. How are you defining “English speaking” and “military catastrophe”? England suffered military catastrophe on a number of occasions. 14th October 1066 was a pretty big catastrophe for the English. Also the last few years of the 100 years war. Who do you think the French took Bordeaux back from in 1453? Also the English Civil War was militarily catastrophic for one side. And our failure to deal with a minor rebellion in some of our colonies has recently turned into a massive catastrophe.

            4. I hear tell we had to send some Anglophones from the other side of the pond packin’ once again long about 1814. 🙂

            5. Hmmm, I see that war as more of a nil all draw. Most English people aren’t even aware that it happened. The only real catastrophe of the Battle of New Orleans is that it happened after the peace treaty had already been signed.

            6. The thought isn’t mine but came from John Keegan’s Face of Battle – surely one of the very best military history books ever written – in which he stated that “…it is significant that the only cult general in the English-speaking world — Robert E Lee — was the paladin of its only component community ever to suffer military catastrophe, the Confederacy.”

            7. @bonetired. Well he was wrong. The Battle of Hastings was clearly a military catastrophe for the English.

               I’ve got another one. Ask the Australians and New Zealanders about the Gallipoli campaign.

            8. How many women had the vote in the USA at the time of the American Civil War? I once had a big argument with somebody about the definition of democracy. I claimed that, at the time of the First World War, Britain was not a true democracy because no women had the right to vote. He disagreed.

   2. Today, no European armies invade European countries but tourists do. In some places they have become the most feared invaders. 🙂

2. If medal is the right term, I’d love to know how they made it out of a Morgan Dollar.

3. Yo, Grania, and everybody else — here I am again with the warning about dogs and cats pressing their faces against the wall. This is not cute behavior. That dog might well be very sick and needs to be evaluated by the vet.

   1. However, watching the video, I think this is a genuine case of canine abashment, not disease!

      1. If one compares photos/videos of dogs and cats that are head pressing because they’re ill with photos of dogs and cats that are abashed, I think that one can see the difference, and I think it’s easier to determine from a video. Nonetheless, people who have cats and dogs need to be aware of this and aware of the difference.

4. Today is both the birth and death day of Sir Thomas Browne, physician and polymath, whose curious and wonderful writings, and whose curious and wonderful language have charmed me ever since I was first introduced to them decades ago: Religio Medici, Pseudodoxia Epidemica, Pseudodoxia Epidemica, etc.

   1. Sir Thomas:

      Life is a pure flame, and we live by an invisible sun within us.

      All things are artificial, for nature is the art of God.

      Rough diamonds may sometimes be mistaken for worthless pebbles.

5. Some other buzz from Andy Borowitz:

   Trump Dispatches Sarah Huckabee Sanders to Saudi Arabia to Provide Lying Advice

   Merkel Asks Mueller If There’s Anything She Can Do to Help

   Trump Sends National Guard to His Accountant’s Office

6. The minehunter is, BTW, HMS Ledbury. It is trivial to find the name of the RN Lt-Cmdr who is in command !

   1. I would have guessed Mrs Harris, but she doesn’t seem to have taken her husband’s name.

7. The Hundred Year War ended with the defeat of Fire Lord Ozai by Avatar Aang.

   -Ryan

8. FYI: the subs on the dancing guy video are completely made up.
   What he’s saying is more like “I expected the music to be better, and the whole event to be better, but this music really sucks”.

9. The physics tricks are amazing. I liked also the fluff ball kitten.

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