Been a long time since Mr. Gonzales’ world history class at BFHS…which of course would be the last time I learned anything substantial about the French revolution. I do remember liking the wacky stuff they did to create logical, well organized systems for ev-ry-thing, like new names for all the months (Thermidor) and the metric system. Must say I was surprised when I saw this map. Never knew how far they took the stuff. Believe it or not, this checkerboard was the original draft of the plan for France’s current départements (it was altered a bit by the time the plan was complete).

Thouret, the guy who drew the map seems to have died by guillotine during the reign of terror. Shame.

Link

maps, france | No Comments »

I just watched this beautiful video clip from a 1994 interview with Dick Cheney. “Gulf War I : Desert Storm” had just concluded and he was asked to defend the Father’s decision not to take it to Saddam. He responds eloquently, presenting a case which is well thought out and entirely correct. Basically, he has two main points:

1. There’s nothing good to do with Iraq once you’ve deposed Saddam, and the country will collapse and be dismembered ultimately by regional forces. (he actually uses the term quagmire, which I thought was nice)
2. Americans have no appetite for the additional casualties which would ensue. The salient quote being:

“[The question was] how many additional dead Americans was Saddam worth? And our judgment was not very many. And I think we got it right.”

Touching.

Boing Boing | Video

united states, politics | No Comments »

NB: Jer couldn’t make it to Goose Pond this year…but in honour of his birthday today’s pic is a shot from last year.

goose pond, photo, jacob daum | No Comments »