This day in history.....

[SouthernN'Proud]

You think thats impressive? Try finding a major war between 1815 - 1914. So hard was the British Navy and its ships that war stopped altogether. Now thats a measure of a tough Navy.

NB: Civil wars don't count.

[dude from Slingblade voice]Mmmmm, I don't reckon we ever had us one o'them Civil Wars over hyar. 'Twarn't nuttin' civil 'bout it. Mmmm-hmmmm. Is 'at mustard on 'em 'air biscuits?[/voice]

 

[Lopan]

Why does it show last post made by Mare? Am I invisible or summin?

oddly I can't see when your online. I just thought you were being invisible. Same goes for BoP.

 

[Lopan]

[dude from Slingblade voice]Mmmmm, I don't reckon we ever had us one o'them Civil Wars over hyar. 'Twarn't nuttin' civil 'bout it. Mmmm-hmmmm. Is 'at mustard on 'em 'air biscuits?[/voice]

Don't know much about it on the whole. Whose side were the Indians on?

 

[Mare]

May 21st


1881: Clara Barton establishes the American Red Cross, a counterpart to the European humanitarian agency founded in Switzerland in 1864.

1932: Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic, when she arrives in Ireland from Newfoundland, Canada.

1945: American movie star Humphrey Bogart marries his To Have and Have Not costar Lauren Bacall.

1961: U.S. president John F. Kennedy commits the country to “landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth before this decade is out.”

1991: Rajiv Ghandhi, former prime minister of India, is assassinated during election campaigns; his mother, Prime Minister Indira Ghandhi, was assassinated in 1984.

 

[Gato_Solo]

Don't know much about it on the whole. Whose side were the Indians on?

Nice...

1. They weren't Indian. They were, and are, Native American.
2. The Native Americans were fighting to reclaim what was stolen from them. If you wish to say it, yes, it was a war. One started by the British and French, BTW, way back in the 1752. When you folks from the UK were given the hob-nail boot in the ass out of the US, it was our turn to screw over the Native Americans.
3. Didn't the UK get rather embarasses during the Boer War between 1899 and 1904?

Learn from your history, young padawan.

 

[Lopan]

Queen Victoria's Conquests

In her life, Queen Victoria conquered many countries : Egypt in 1881, Canada in 1867, India and she became Empress of India in 1876. After her death in 1901 Edward VII conquered Australia and New Zealand in 1907, South Africa in 1910, Ireland in 1922.


Still looks pretty big to me.

 

[Gato_Solo]

Queen Victoria's Conquests

In her life, Queen Victoria conquered many countries : Egypt in 1881, Canada in 1867, India and she became Empress of India in 1876. After her death in 1901 Edward VII conquered Australia and New Zealand in 1907, South Africa in 1910, Ireland in 1922.


Still looks pretty big to me.

Too bad she couldn't hold them, eh? What are you down to now...just the Falklands, right?

 

[Mare]

May 22nd


1455: England's 30-year Wars of the Roses begin with King Henry VI's Lancastrian forces defeated by the Yorkists in the Battle of St. Albans.

1939: German dictator Adolf Hitler and Italian dictator Benito Mussolini sign the "Pact of Steel," establishing a military alliance between their countries.

1972: Richard Nixon becomes the first U.S. president to visit the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).

1992: Johnny Carson ends his 30-year reign as the popular host of television's "The Tonight Show."
2003: Golfer Annika Sörenstam tees up for the Colonial tournament, becoming the first woman to compete in a PGA Tour event since Babe Didrikson Zaharias in 1945.

 

[Lopan]

Too bad she couldn't hold them, eh? What are you down to now...just the Falklands, right?

Well actually dude.

The Commonwealth encompasses a population of approximately 1.8 billion people, making up about 30% of the world's total. India is the most populous member, with a billion people at the 2001 census, while Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nigeria each contain more than 100 million people. Tuvalu, by contrast, the smallest has only 11,000 inhabitants. The land area of the Commonwealth nations equals about a quarter of the world's land area, with Australia, Canada—the world's second-largest nation by area—and India each having more than 2.5 million square kilometres.

Membership is normally open to countries which accept the association's basic aims. Members are required to have a present or past constitutional link to the United Kingdom or to another Commonwealth member. Consequently, not all members have had direct constitutional ties to the United Kingdom: some South Pacific countries were formerly under Australian administration, while Namibia was governed by South Africa from 1920 until independence in 1990. Cameroon joined in 1995 although only a fraction of its territory had formerly been under British administration through the League of Nations mandate of 1920–46 and United Nations Trusteeship arrangement of 1946–61.

Only one member of the present Commonwealth was never attached to the British Empire or any Commonwealth member: Mozambique, a former Portuguese colony was admitted in 1995 on the back of the triumphal re-admission of South Africa, with support from Mozambique's neighbours, all of whom were members of the Commonwealth and who wished to offer assistance in overcoming the losses incurred as a result of the country's opposition to white minority regimes in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and South Africa. In 1997, amid some discontent, Commonwealth Heads of Government agreed that Mozambique's admission should be seen as a special case and did not set a precedent.

Charles de Gaulle once suggested that France, though it was never a member of the British Empire (even if for centuries English/British monarchs claimed the title 'King of France') should apply for Commonwealth membership; this idea was never realised, but may be seen as a follow-up to a proposal made by Churchill to keep a French government in exile during World War II instead of the puppet regime of Vichy France. Egypt, Iraq, and Israel have never shown an interest in joining the Commonwealth, despite their histories of British rule. Similarly Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, and Oman are not members. Nor is the United States, which was formed from former British colonies and maintains close cultural ties with the United Kingdom—for its independence antedates the institution of the Commonwealth by 100 years. Hong Kong also did not join the commonwealth following the end of British rule in 1997, as it was absorbed into a sovereign state, the People's Republic of China.

Because the Commonwealth's member countries were spread out so far and wide around the world, it was common to say (or hear) that "the sun never sets on the British Commonwealth" (originally, "the British Empire"). Even with its declining membership, this remained true, at least on a timezone by timezone basis, until member nation Gambia was realigned from timezone -0100 into Zulu time (http://godscopybook.blogs.com/gpb/2004/11/the_sun_still_d.html).

[edit]
Suspension
In recent years the Commonwealth has suspended several members "from the Councils of the Commonwealth" for failure to uphold democratic government. Suspended members are not represented at meetings of Commonwealth leaders and ministers, although they remain members of the organisation. Fiji, which for similar reasons had been outside the Commonwealth 1987–1997, was suspended 2000–2001, after a military coup, as was Pakistan from 1999 until 2004. Nigeria was suspended between 1995 and 1999. Zimbabwe was suspended in 2002 over concerns with the electoral and land reform policies of Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF government, before withdrawing from the organisation in 2003.

[edit]
Termination of membership
As membership is purely voluntary, member governments can choose at any time to leave the Commonwealth. Pakistan left the Commonwealth in 1972 in protest at Commonwealth recognition of breakaway Bangladesh, but rejoined in 1989. Zimbabwe left the Commonwealth in 2003 when Commonwealth Heads of Government refused to lift the country's suspension on human rights and governance grounds.

Although Heads of Government have the power to suspend member states, the Commonwealth has no provision for the expulsion of members. However, Commonwealth Realms which become republics automatically cease to be members unless, like India in 1950, they obtain the permission of other members to remain in the organisation as a republic. The Republic of Ireland did not apply for re-admittance after becoming a republic in 1949, as the Commonwealth at the time did not allow republican membership. However the leader of its Opposition at the time, Eamon de Valera, believed the Republic of Ireland's decision not to apply to stay was a mistake. He and his successor as Taoiseach, Sean Lemass, both considered re-applying. Éamon Ó Cuív, a minister in the present Irish Government (and himself de Valera's grandson), raised the issue of the Republic's possible reapplication a number of times in the 1990s. However, the issue arouses both some hostility and disinterest in Ireland, where some people still associate the Commonwealth with British imperialism, even though the majority of member states are now republics. The Republic of Ireland the first nation ever to leave the Commonwealth and not rejoin.

South Africa was effectively prevented from continuing as a member after it became a republic in 1961 as a result of hostility from many members, particularly those in Africa and Asia as well as Canada, to its policy of apartheid. The South African government chose not to apply to remain in the organisation as a republic since it was clear any such application would have been rejected. South Africa was re-admitted to the Commonwealth in 1995, after the end of apartheid in 1990.

The declaration of a republic in the Fiji Islands in 1987, after military coups designed to deny Indo-Fijians in Fiji political power, was not accompanied by application to remain. Commonwealth membership was held to have lapsed until 1997, after racist provisions in the republican constitution were repealed and reapplication for membership made.

In 2004, Bhutan was invited to participate in the Commonwealth, but refused on grounds of national sovereignty.

[edit]
Organisation and objectives
Queen Elizabeth II is the nominal Head of the Commonwealth. Some members of the Commonwealth recognize the Queen as head of state. These members are known as Commonwealth Realms; however, the majority of members are republics, and a handful of others are indigenous monarchies. The role of Head of the Commonwealth is best likened to that of a ceremonial president-for-life. In constitutional terms, this position is neither a hereditary monarchy nor an elective presidency. As a result it is not clear whether the current heir apparent to the British and many other Commonwealth thrones, Prince Charles, will automatically assume the position of Head of the Commonwealth or whether another head of state within the Commonwealth might be asked to assume that position.

Since 1965 there has been a London-based Secretariat. The current (2005) Commonwealth Secretary-General is Don McKinnon, a former Foreign Minister of New Zealand. The organisation is celebrated each year on Commonwealth Day, the second Monday in March.

The Commonwealth has long been distinctive as an international forum where highly developed economies (the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand) and many of the world's poorer countries seek to reach agreement by consensus. This aim has sometimes been difficult to achieve, as when disagreements over Rhodesia in the 1970s and over apartheid South Africa in the 1980s led to a cooling of relations between Britain and African members.

The main decision-making forum of the organisation is the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), where Commonwealth presidents or prime ministers assemble for several days to discuss matters of mutual interest. CHOGM is the successor to the Prime Ministers' Conferences and earlier Imperial Conferences and Colonial Conferences dating back to 1887. There are also regular meetings of finance ministers, law ministers, health ministers, etc.

The most important statement of the Commonwealth's principles is the 1991 Harare Declaration, which dedicated the organisation to democracy and good government, and allowed for action to be taken against members who breached these principles. Before then the Commonwealth's collective actions had been limited by the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other members.

[edit]
Benefits of membership and contemporary concerns
The Commonwealth has often been likened to an English gentlemen's club, and the issue of membership - who is and who is not a member of the organisation - often seems to be more important, and certainly attracts much more attention, than what the organisation actually does. This is because the main benefit of membership is the opportunity for close and relatively frequent interaction, on an informal and equal basis, between members who share many ties of language, culture, and history.

In its early days, the Commonwealth also constituted a significant economic bloc. Commonwealth countries accorded each others' goods privileged access to their markets ("Commonwealth Preference"), and there was a free or preferred right of migration from one Commonwealth country to another. These rights have been steadily eroded, but their consequences remain. Within most Commonwealth countries, there are substantial communities with family ties to other members of the Commonwealth, going beyond the effects of the original colonisation of parts of the Commonwealth by settlers from Britain. Furthermore, consumers in Commonwealth countries retain many preferences for goods from other members of the Commonwealth, so that even in the absence of tariff privileges, there continues to be more trade within the Commonwealth than might be predicted. On the United Kingdom's entry to the European Union, the Lomé Convention preserved some of the preferential access rights of Commonwealth goods to the UK market.

In more recent decades there has been a mutual decline of interest in each other, and the Commonwealth's direct political and economic importance has declined. Britain has forged closer relationships with other European countries through the European Union; Britain's entry was widely felt as a betrayal by citizens of the "Old Commonwealth" whose economies had been developed on the assumption of access to British markets. Similarly, former British colonies have forged closer relationships with non-Commonwealth trading partners and closer geographic neighbours. Reaction to immigration from the new Commonwealth countries into Britain in the 1950s and early 1960s led to the restriction of the right of migration. The Commonwealth today mainly restricts itself to encouraging community between nations and to placing moral pressure on members who violate international laws, such as human rights laws, and abandon democratically-elected government. Key activities today include training experts in developing countries and assisting with and monitoring elections.

Some Commonwealth countries give Commonwealth citizens privileges that are not accorded to aliens: for example, in the United Kingdom, the right to vote is given to all Commonwealth citizens resident in that country. However, these privileges are not on a reciprocal basis, and it is up to each country to decide what privileges it accords to Commonwealth citizenship. These privileges have been largely eroded over the last few decades, although many countries continue to afford special treatment in the area of immigration and visas.

[edit]
Cultural links
The Commonwealth is also useful as an international organisation that represents significant cultural and historical links between wealthy first-world countries and poorer developing nations with diverse social and religious backgrounds. The common inheritance of the English language and literature, the common law, and British systems of administration all underpin the club-like atmosphere of the Commonwealth.

Mostly as a result of their history of British rule, many Commonwealth nations share certain identifiable traditions and customs that are elements of a shared Commonwealth culture. Examples include common sports such as cricket and rugby, driving on the left, parliamentary and legal traditions, and the use of British rather than American spelling conventions (see Commonwealth English). None of these is universal within the Commonwealth countries, nor exclusive to them, but all of them are more common in the Commonwealth than elsewhere.

The Commonwealth countries share many links at non-governmental levels, with over a hundred non-governmental organisations that are organised on a Commonwealth wide basis, notably in the areas of sport, culture, education, and other charitable sectors. A multi-sports championship called the Commonwealth Games is held every four years, two years after each Olympic Games. As well as the usual athletic disciplines, the games include sports popular throughout the Commonwealth such as bowls. The Association of Commonwealth Universities is an important vehicle for academic links, particularly through offering scholarships for students to study in universities in other Commonwealth countries. There are also many non-official associations that bring together individuals who work within the spheres of law and government, such as the Commonwealth Lawyers Association and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.

In recent years the Commonwealth model has inspired similar initiatives on the part of France and Portugal and their respective ex-colonies, and in the former case, other sympathetic governments: the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie and the Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa (Community of Portuguese-speaking countries).

[edit]
Literature
The shared history of British rule has also produced a substantial body of writing in many languages - Commonwealth literature. There is an Association for Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies (ACLALS (http://www.aclals.org)) with nine chapters worldwide. ACLALS holds an international conference every three years. The 13th Triennial (http://aclals.org/events/2k4/participants.htm) was held in Hyderabad, India, in August 2004; the next will be held in 2007 in Calgary, Canada.

In 1987, the Commonwealth Foundation established the Commonwealth Writers Prize (http://www.commonwealthwriters.com/) "to encourage and reward the upsurge of new Commonwealth fiction and ensure that works of merit reach a wider audience outside their country of origin." Caryl Phillips won the Commonwealth Writers Prize 2004 for A Distant Shore. Mark Haddon won the Commonwealth Writers Prize 2004 Best First Book prize worth £3,000 for The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time.

Although not affiliated with the Commonwealth in an official manner, the prestigious Booker Prize is awarded annually to an author from a Commonwealth country. This honour is one of the highest in literature.

 

[Mare]

May 23rd


1785: In a letter, Benjamin Franklin describes his latest invention, bifocal eyeglasses; the upper portion of the lens is ground for distance and the lower part for reading.

1873: The North-West Mounted Police (now the Royal Canadian Mounted Police) is established as Canada's national police force; officers are popularly called Mounties. .

1911: The administrative center of the New York Public Library opens on Fifth Avenue between 40th and 42nd streets in Manhattan.

1934: Notorious partners-in-crime Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, commonly known as Bonnie and Clyde, are shot to death in a police ambush in Louisiana.

 

[SouthernN'Proud]

Don't know much about it on the whole. Whose side were the Indians on?

To answer the question (and Gato is correct with the nomenclature), the ones who fought were primarily supportive of the Confederacy. Can't really blame them. After all, no one down here tried to enslave them or make it illegal for them to even be present.

 

[chcr]

To answer the question (and Gato is correct with the nomenclature), the ones who fought were primarily supportive of the Confederacy. Can't really blame them. After all, no one down here tried to enslave them or make it illegal for them to even be present.

Nope, that mostly happened in CA.

 

[SouthernN'Proud]

And New England.

Sorry to burst the bubble up yonder, but some history can't be swept under your rug.

 

[chcr]

And New England.

Sorry to burst the bubble up yonder, but some history can't be swept under your rug.

Yeah, but CA actually changed a law to make it legal. New England used an existing law.

 

[Inkara1]

Hey, don't blame me! I wasn't even born back then!

 

[Winky]

Yer ancestors prolly weren't even in the country then either!

 

[SouthernN'Proud]

Hey, don't blame me! I wasn't even born back then!

Judging from my own experience, that doesn't seem to matter much.

 

[Gato_Solo]

Judging from my own experience, that doesn't seem to matter much.

AHA! So you admit it! DOn't worry. I forgive you...

 

[Winky]

Birthdays:
On May 26, 1907, John Wayne, was born.
1948 Stevie [Stephanie Lynn] Nicks Phoenix AZ, rocker (Fleetwood Mac)
1962 Bob[cat] Goldthwait Syracuse NY, comedian
1964 Lenny Kravitz singer/guitar


1966 Helena Bonham Carter actress

Events:
1940 The evacuation of Allied troops from Dunkirk, France, began during World War II.
1966 Buddhist sets self on fire at US consulate in Hué South-Vietnam
(I actually remember that!)
1969 Apollo 10 astronauts returned to Earth
1977 Movie "Star Wars" debuts OK it was the 25th.
1979 "Dancin' Fool" by Frank Zappa hits #45
1994 President Bill Clinton renewed trade privileges for China and announced his administration would no longer link China's trade status with its human rights record.(good job Billy)
1994 Pop star Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley were married in the Dominican Republic.
2004 Terry Nichols was found guilty of 161 state murder charges for helping carry out the Oklahoma City bombing. (He later received 161 consecutive life sentences.)

 

[Winky]

To answer the question (and Gato is correct with the nomenclature), the ones who fought were primarily supportive of the Confederacy. Can't really blame them. After all, no one down here tried to enslave them or make it illegal for them to even be present.

So what you are saying is the losers sided with the losers and they lost?