There was in fact, a non-trivial number of black sailors in the 18th century navy, some of whom were commissioned officers. For its time, the navy was meritocratic, and good seamen were in demand, re… (View Post)

Just another lazy politician getting stuff ghost-written. (View Post)

In overall terms, gerrymandering, while disgraceful, doesn’t really favour either party. The House election result, 222 to 213, almost exactly matches the national vote share won by Republicans and D… (View Post)

I’d be amazed if most British people could name *anybody* from the 3rd century. The number of people who get remembered - outside the ranks of historians - is tiny. If you were to ask the man in the … (View Post)

It seems there was just as much protest, between 1974 to 1979, and 1997-2010, as now. Was there ever a time when we had such public services and social fabric? The author is right, IMHO, to object to… (View Post)