[doug flutie] which move was it

After a pass by second-string quarterback Matt Cassel, Doug Flutie made a move which will be remembered forever. What was it?

# Throwing his last-second Hail Mary TD pass to Gerard Phelan;
# The only successful NFL drop kick in the last sixty years;
# The 74-yard Cutback.

Answer is here.

[culloden] welcome tae your gory bed

The story of the '15 and the '45 are well known. Not everyone knows who was to blame for what followed Culloden.

Culloden itself, while a huge tragedy, had one interesting aspect. Butcher Cumberland's method of diagonal bayonet thrusting, so that you killed the foe diagonally to your right instead of the one you were actually fighting, was supposedly learnt from the Blackwatch, the original Highland Regiment in the British Army. One who escaped, Donald Mackay, reported:

When we reached Culcabock we stopped, feeling faint with hunger. I had some oatcakes in my bag and we got a drink of milk from an old lady who was beside the road. "How did the day go? she asked. Badly for the Prince," we replied, and left in haste.

The Prince fled the battlefield and survived for five months in Scotland despite a £30,000 reward for his capture, then made his humiliating escape to France, disguised as a "lady's maid" to Flora Macdonald.

After the victory, Cumberland ordered his men to execute all the Jacobite wounded and prisoners, he rode into Inverness, his drawn sword still covered in blood, patrols were sent back to the battlefield to kill any survivors, executions were conducted on the basis of drawing lots on a ratio of about 1 in 20, the detachments of Irish soldiers from the French army were permitted to formally surrender, were treated well and eventually returned to France.

The clan system was destroyed, largely due to the Act of Proscription, banning the kilt and the tartan and then the real tragedies occurred.

The Glengarry [under Marjorie MacDonell], Strathglass [under Elizabeth Chisholm] and Duke of Sutherland clearances took place, with people evicted, homes burned and Cheviot sheep put in their place. Interestingly, the 2nd Duke of Sutherland later gave 80 000 pounds as a sort of apology for what had happened.

The thing which stuns me is how the Highland Chiefs themselves gave way to greed and sold out their own people. It's not excusing the English but the first two clearances were Scottish. It reminds me, in reverse, of Tony Blair, in the modern day, selling out his own people.

[apologizing] this time it's virginia

1805 portrait of one of the slavers. Is Virginia apologizing on his behalf?

The Virginia General Assembly voted yesterday to issue a statement of "profound regret" over the state's role in slavery. Missouri lawmakers are considering a similar resolution. The measure passed in Virginia 96-0 and had a unanimous vote in the Senate as well.

Which part of their history are they actually apologizing for?

1] In 1619 Virginia had no law of slavery and the arrivals became "servants." They went to work in tobacco fields alongside other servants who were white and had come from England. Conditions were equally hard for both groups, but servitude could end. On the other hand, the blacks were there under duress and the whites were not.

2] Between 1667 and 1672 the General assembly enacted legislation which increasingly defined a Virginian's status by skin color.

3] The slave trade lasted almost 200 years, until the importation of slaves was officially prohibited in 1808 by Article I, Section 9 of the US Constitution.

How far are descendants of one group of legislators obliged to apologize and those of another group not obliged? What of the families of the slavers? To whom, precisely, are they apologizing? The ghosts of the poor slaves? What result will it achieve?

Is all this recent national apologizing a good thing? When will Britain finally apologize for William of Normandy who played a low trick by coming over before Harold was ready?

[parental war] children don't know where to turn

There are three sickening things about the news report on the Lebanese man who had his children stolen from him in a snatch and grab raid.

1] The gloating of the Canadian woman who did it [see photo];

2] The way the press beat it up, giving unreserved 100% supported for the abduction of the children, whilst at the same time running a parallel post on 'children need their dad'. The slanted language was appalling. They wrote: "He then hatched a plan to use Lebanese law to assert his rights…" but in her case, it was: "Melissa's ordeal began on July 15…"

3] The complete lack of concern for the needs and wishes of the children themselves, as is usually the case in divorce, euphemized as 'for the good of the children'.

Sorry but this incensed me. Now wait for the counter-attack.

[blogpower] the paine initiative

Exciting stuff from Tom Paine on Defending the Blog. Could this be the new direction for Blogpower?

[blogfocus sunday] a dozen pearls of wisdom

On no particular theme today, beyond pieces of particular interest, let's get started straight away.

1 La Femme Contraire, like many of us, throws up her hands in despair at the state of the country and what prospects face our children:

This story has distressed me for several reasons. It serves to remind me of why I have strong doubts about bringing children into this world for one thing. Living in a non child friendly country like Britain does not help. Like most people I can only speculate on the reasons for it. The individualism of the 1980s with it's economic restructuring went a long way towards breaking down community ties and led to a greater degree of social atomisation, for one thing.

2 In a similar vein, Morag reflects on young people and low self-esteem:

So if we now know that the one thing that kids who make bad decisions have in common is low self-esteem then it seems to make sense that what we really need to do to have a long term solution to the mess we are in is to do our best to ensure that all our young people have higher self-esteem than they do now. You can rest assured that young people with low self-esteem making bad decisions will grow up to be adults with low self-esteem making bad decisions. And at £100,000 per prisoner for construction of new prison places we should do this if for no other reason than fiscal responsibility.

3 Istanbultory writes of those who can't leave the kids alone:

On the matter of dealing with paedophiles, I am firmly of the view that the full application of Islamic law has much to commend it. No need for expensive treatment programmes, group discussion and individual psycho-therapy, or conditioning methods.Alas, the Scottish Executive takes a different view. Cathy Jamieson, the Scottish justice minister/former social worker/walking disaster, yesterday rejected a suggestion by a Scottish Parliament committee that aimed to give police additional powers to enter the home of a registered sex offender without a warrant where there are concerns about the safety of a child in the area.

Nine more bloggers here.