h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Oh, abrogation of parenthood, eh? Have you asked Snooks about her report cards? What did she say?

She doesn't understand why I haven't been receiving any copies... She filled out all the paperwork...
Not like she doesn't have a problem with that.
She put a return address on a letter to my father and he copied it and his letter got sent back two weeks later.
Shnooks has trouble with numbers, kinda like dyslexia, only it's numbers.

I've been listening to Uncle Mort's North Country on BB& 7's 'Listen Again' - I'd forgotten that Peter Skellern was in it as Carter Brandon. I used to go to school with him. He was in the second year sixth when I was in the first year. He was head boy, I remember.

My goodness, I remember people with those attitudes.

And Peter Skellern used to be a wonderful musician. Still is probably. Used to play in brass bands and became a composer.

Really?!
I've got cassette copies of the "Uncle Mort's North Country" programmes! I've almost worn them out laughing my arse off!

Shnooks gave me a most wonderful book a couple months ago.
I just finished reading it yesterday, having kept it in the loo for casual reading. It is called "Genghis Khan and the making of the Modern World". Absolutely fascinating.

Here's a link for the BBC Radio 7 - you'll need to look down the list for Uncle Mort's North Country. http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbc7/listenagain/thursday/ - I used to watch it on TV.

I've not heard of the 'Genghis Khan and the making of the Modern World' book - is it meant to be factual?

Oh, yes - I see it is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genghis_Khan_and_the_Making_of_the_Modern_World - fascinating.

It was a very fasinating book.
Like a book of fiction, the Genghis Khan story was a world
that I dove into and when I looked up at the world around me
I felt out of place, more than usual.
The mongols functioned under Chenggis like a virus in the human
programme. No mice in sight that I could tell.
It took only two generations after his death before the
family and the culture began to fall apart.

The book portrays the Mongols as opportunists who had no ideology except efficiency. They had the right man and women at the right
time and the world was changed forever.

In fact, the Muslims have been muttering about the coalition forces
being "mongol"-like. Unfortunately, without the Mongols place in history, the Muslims probably wouldn't still exist today except as a tiny sect in East L.A.

and Columbus wouldn't have had any place to go.

http://www.lacma.org/khan/index_flash.htm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5023900.stm

'Unfortunately, without the Mongols place in history, the Muslims probably wouldn't still exist today except as a tiny sect in East L.A.

and Columbus wouldn't have had any place to go.' Really? Why?

I couldn't get the first link to work. I remember that he organised around 'arbans' - 10 man groups who were really tight as a unit.

Without the lure of a quicker and more profitable trade route to Cathay, circumventing the lengthy transport by camel, horse and cart, Columbus wouldn't have gotten the money for his ships.

Without the Mongols, the Mohammedans would have not learned about siegecraft and the value of capturing foreign scholars and scientists and using them to syncretise philosophys, sciences and economies.
The Mongol way of war used advance knowledge and preparation that took years to assemble before chose a specific time of year to attack. They used refugees herded before them as a form of psychological warfare.

Try this:
http://www.lacma.org/khan/

That link works, Tonsil. My goodness, I didn't realise they practiced shamanism! A fascinating mindset, but not one that I'd like to be in the way of! Feels like 'The ends justify the means, and if I kill or torture you on the way, it's nothing personal.' Treating people as objects, possibly?

Mr. Khan himself was a shaman, as was his aunt. The Mongols don't treat woman as unequal. They believe they are more important than most men. Family ties are traced through the mums, as they are in the best of ancient societies.

"Feels like 'The ends justify the means, and if I kill or torture you on the way, it's nothing personal.' Treating people as objects, possibly?"

Not really. If they conquered you and you survived, you probably would have had a higher standard of living than you did under the monarchs and toffs they killed creatively when they took over.
The Mongols introduced sanitation and the thoughtful care of slaves to most of the uncivilized civilizations they encountered. They also introduced literacy and a sound monetary system. If you were captured by them and you demonstrated a useful skill, you could find yourself lifted up from serfdom to running and entire governmental department within the space of a couple years. It wasn't that they didn't believe in human dignity, they just didn't believe in negotiation.
Of course, under such circumstances, back in the bad old days, life expectancy wasn't too long, and I can't decide if I would be happy if I was reincarnated as a Mongol warrior. They ate and drank some weird stuff.

I suspect that the reason I have difficulty getting into the Mongol brain is because I don't understand its wiring. I can see from what you say, that they were very practical. No use in trying to enforce beliefs in people - just inflames them - and treating them reasonably probably had practical reasons too - particularly if the ordinary people got a better deal than under their former lords and masters.

Unfortunately, Genghis was the genius of the litter. As soon as he was dead, his sons, most of whom were alcoholics and hedonists, began to dismantle his empire and take on some of the trappings of their enemies.

That sounds familiar. The Sun King's offspring were equally inept. I think it comes from power being centralised and it depends very much on the character of the powerful one. Plus, I suppose, that if the main power's offspring are allowed to be powerful, then that threatens the centre. Henry II's sons did the same - the Lion in Winter is a good representation of this.

I always thought that was a sad image, poor lion sitting around with snow on his head. I mean they aren't too bright to begin with... maybe that's why they are such a useful metaphor for a king... what with the Doggess giving all the brains to the lioness.

'Doggess giving all the brains to the lioness.' What did Horace say, Whinnie?'