[GCFL-discuss] Paddy O'Malley

[Discussion of the Good, Clean Funnies List]

I'll share my 2 cents worth here. Did you know... when Churchill gave his
big speech and did the V with his hand it didn't mean "V for Victory" as the
American announcer said, but it was a taunt from days of old between the
British and French. When either side captured archers, they'd cut off their
pointer and middle finger.. IE they can't fire a bow anymore. So when
Churchill did that, he was actually taunting the French... But being this
was such a momentous occassion the announcer didn't go there but made up "V
for Victory"

~Lance
(Sadly I'm full of random facts...)
On Mon, Jan 12, 2009 at 12:50 PM, Discussion of the Good, Clean Funnies List
<gcfl-discuss at gcfl.net> wrote:

> Hmmm, where was I when they taught American history like this in school?
>
> Did you learn this in school or is this independent study?
>
> As I recall, my education of history only covered major events and dates,
> no commentary about the ethics, ideology, conviction, repetition, etc of
> events in history.  And now, many years past formal education, I realize I
> know nothing.  I vaguely remember the phrase "Battle of Vicksburg", so when
> my husband said he was at the battlefield at Vicksburg and saw the USS Cairo
> this past week, I knew it had SOMETHING to do with American history.  But
> that was it!  Did I know who won or who lost?  Did I know how many men died?
> Do I know how long the battle lasted?  Nothing.  Zip, zero, zilch.
>
> Siarlys, every time you write I feel a little dumber and like I have
> somehow been gypped (a racial slur, get over it).  This is not a criticism
> of you, I assure you.  It is an indictment of the education system as a
> whole, my parents, and more importantly, ME.  I believed them (the school
> system and my parents) when they told me my intelligence was way above
> average.  OK, I have a nice IQ number.  What about knowing things?  I don't
> mean trivia (at which I am fairly adept), I mean enough knowledge to discuss
> a topic, have a point of view, express an opinion.  As I sit here at my desk
> re-reading this hodge-podge, I am having an attack of conscience about
> spending my reading time on books about vampires and criminal forensics.  I
> am irresponsible!
>
> In my defense, I majored in Bible in college and can recall more of the
> first 4000 years of history than I can of the following 2000 years and I am
> quite opinionated about it!  That's a proud statement, but I can puff myself
> up only so much on that ability...
>
> Thank you for listening to the ranting of an ignorante.  (I am allowed to
> make up words if I see fit -- I am a former spelling champion.)
>
> PS:   For example, I don't even know enough about history to know if ANY of
> the movie National Treasure was true, or if any of the story about
> "Gormogon" in the TV show Bones is based on ANY fact.  What is the
> Illuminati?  Are there secret societies?  Who were the American presidents
> under the Articles of Confederation and why didn't I know there were any???
> And why do I believe that Churchill was a GREAT man and should be revered by
> Americans?
>
> Ignorance.  Shameful.
>
> Jeanene
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
>
>> David McCulough wrote a biography of John Adams, a delegate to the first
>> and second Continental Congresses, member of the committee that wrote the
>> Declaration of Independence (along with Thomas Jefferson, generally
>> credited as the primary author), and, oh yes, the second President of the
>> United States under the Constitution. (There were several little-known
>> presidents under the Articles of Confederation). Does this ring a bell
>> Jeanene? I know, Patricia Cornwall never wrote about him, and he was
>> never interviewed or dated by a vampire.
>> McCullough's book was turned into a 7-part HBO miniseries, which won 13
>> Emmy awards. I never watched it, since I don't have cable, but I now have
>> the DVD. That's what I was talking about.
>> I used to despise Adams, who was known to many contemporaries as "His
>> Rotundity," because he was the last Federalist president, and I don't
>> like much of the legacy the Federalist party bequeathed to our nation. I
>> prefer Jefferson and Jackson and Gabriel. But, Adams was really a very
>> complex man. Since learning that his fellow federalist, Alexander
>> Hamilton, despised Adams, I have had an improved opinion of Adams. (I've
>> always believed that Aaron Burr did us all a favor by doing in Hamilton.)
>> Adams seems to have been the sort of conservative I can appreciate in my
>> old age: believed in hard work, virtue, freedom of conscience, once
>> observed that he had "never owned a Negro or other slave" (hint: there
>> were many kinds of slaves in his day), and had appropriate doubts about
>> the Alien and Sedition Acts rammed through during his administration.
>> Siarlys
>>
>
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