Year End

Earth's Orbit

The end of the year is of course a very arbitrary thing after all circles have no beginning and no end. They are so to speak infinite in length. No matter how long you travel around a circle you will never come to its end or in fact it’s beginning. It is are like the huge dragon worm of Norse mythology that circles the world biting its own tail although in this case there is no head or tail just a continuous circle.

Noel

Nativity Scene

Perhaps one of the most evocative of modern Christmas Carols is Chris de Burgh’s A Spaceman Came Travelling, from his strongly Religiously flavored album Spanish Train.

So for this time of year let this lovely piece fill your mind, while we wait another year for a touch of the divine.

Down the Memory Hole

An Unknown French Victory of the Hundred Years War

du Guesclin

The Hundred Years war between England and France is not just interesting in and of itself but also of interest in how it is portrayed in modern day historical consciousness. In England for example we get detailed treatment of the battles of Sluys, Crecy, Poitiers, Agincourt and Verneuil.1

The Fall of Rome

A Note on Britain

Late Roman British Villa

The Fall of Rome is considered one of the great mysteries of history. In fact Edward Gibbon wrote one of the great masterpieces of historical literature in his The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.1 In it Edward Gibbon says remarkably little about "big causes" of the decline and instead gives, in very great detail, a narrative of events regarding the fall.2

The Rosenberg's Guilt

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg

In a previous posting1 I discussed the Rosenberg case. In that case Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were found guilty of espionage and both were eventually executed.

What was especially interesting about the case was the refusal of so many for so long to accept that the Rosenberg's were guilty. As of late 2011 it appears that virtually everyone has accepted that Julius Rosenberg engaged in spying and his wife Ethel was well aware of her husband's activities.2 

At the time it was quite clear that the Rosenberg's were likely quite guilty. It was also clear that they could be quite useful as propaganda weapons. Both of the Rosenberg's were Communists and in that time period it meant that they were Stalinists.