All 2 entries tagged History

Kids aren't as stupid as we thought they were

University degrees with significant rises in applications (2007 v 2006):

• Civil engineering 18,605 up 13%
• Economics: 37,974 up 12.8%
• Physics: 19,140 up 12.2%
• Chemistry: 20,786 up 11.3%
• Fine art: 9,703 up 10.5%
• Maths: 33,790 up 10%
• Music: 21,281 up 9.9%
• History: 6,021 up 9.2%
• English: 55,581 up 7.6%
• Biology: 23,367 up 6%

They’ve obviously noticed that if you’re graduating with tens of thousands of pounds of debt, you may as well do something useful.

Christopher Doidge : 14 Feb 2007 14:19 |  Tags: Art Biology Chemistry Children Economics Education English History Maths Music Physics Universities |  Comments (3) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

More revisionist history from the States

This guy is Charles Krauthammer (great name, utterly unpronounceable) and he's written an opinion piece for the Washington Post.

He writes:

Our big wars — and the war on terrorism ranks with the big ones — have a way of starting in the first year of a decade.

By way of example he includes 1861, 2001 and… 1941. Yes, that's right. According to Krauthammer (an apt name if you split it in two in the right place), World War Two began in 1941.

His point – if there is one – seems to be that in 1861 and 1941, things were sorted within five years (works fine when you fiddle the figures!), and that after 2001, Bush hasn't "won" the War on Terror. Well, no shit, Sherlock.

Now, it's not a particularly good point, as it could be argued that 1861 and 1941 were ever so slightly different to the "war" that began in 2001. Perhaps 1,000,000 died in the American Civil War, many of disease. It's estimated that 62,000,000 died in WWII. And how many have died in the War on Terror? 10,000? 60,000 if you include those killed in Iraq?

Krauthammer is talking nonsense, his metaphor is crap and his revision of history is offensive to those who died between 1939 and 1941.

Click here to read Krauthammer's article

Christopher Doidge : 07 Jul 2006 21:29 |  Tags: History Opinion United States World War II |  Comments (11) |  Close comments |  Report a problem