Oh, Americans?

[wemyss]

About that general election....

Comments

[muuranker]

An awful lot of the world is still pink (or, at least, governed by someone who wears hats which are a nice shade of lilac).

I draw your readership's attention to the white paper on the Overseas Territories http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/about-us/what-we-do/overseas-territories/overseas-territories-white-paper/ - which reveals a surprisingly* light concern for their history

*for a given value of surprising. Historians and archaeologists probably will not be surprised.

Sadly, I am amongst the unsurprised.

[wemyss]

And do you know, the US is actually eligible to join the Commonwealth?

Re: Sadly, I am amongst the unsurprised.

[muuranker]

I'm not sad you are a historian, but yes, sad that the white paper does not recognise the shortcomings of the UK when it comes to heritage

Well, as matters stand currently...

[wemyss]

... any nation whose territory, in whole or in part, was once a colony or possession of some sort is eligible (and others may apply as well on the basis of historic ties, or - as Japan has done - to be observers). Oddly, this means that the US, Israel, and Afghanistan - and, in my view, France - are all eligible....

[tazlet]

You yawped, sir?

*What the butler said to the werewolf. (I realize it's obscure, but you never know.)

Funnily enough...

[wemyss]

... old fans of Peter Simple in the Torygraph may recall that the earl of Mountwarlock's butler, Phantomsby, of the 'infectious smile', was 'one of the few practising werewolves left in the Midlands'.

ETA - I am of course a huge Tom Sharpe fan....

[tazlet]

A different funny man (and I misquoted): http://classic.tcj.com/history/wilson-booth-rodriques/

Ah.

[wemyss]

Quite. Not precisely a magazine I am likely to read, naturally (see icon)....

Re: Another good reason for the US to join the Commonwealth.

[eglantine_br]

They did not teach grammar in the US for about 20 years. For a while they did not teach phonetics either. I got the phonetics, but not the grammar. I had to learn it by ear, and just by reading. It would have been so much better just to teach it. Bright kids in the US are pitifully served. Kids who are not as bright are in an even worse position.

I have no idea if the Commonwealth is a good thing or not. But I know that people make better writers when they know what a noun is!

Shocking, this thread.

[wemyss]

Or, rather, the distressful information it contains.

Although it explains much....

God Save the Queen (and Wemyss if he can manage it)

[don_jam]

I think I may now love you just a little bit Wemyss.

How vy kind of you.

[wemyss]

And more than I deserve, no doubt, from you and from Divine Providence.