The Early Days of a Better Nation

Tuesday, March 02, 2004


To be of nane avail force nor effect

"The tre estaitis of parliament hes annulit and declarit all sik actes maid in tymis bipast not aggreing wt goddis word and now contrair to the confessioun of oure fayt according to the said word publist in this parliament, To be of nane avail force nor effect. And decernis the said actis and every ane of thame to haue na effect nor strenth in tyme to cum."

Act of Parliament of Scotland, 24 August 1560

"That na maner of person nor personis say mess [Mass] nor zit heir mess nor be pnt thairat vunder the pane of confiscatioun of all thair gud movable and vnmovable and pvneissing of thair bodeis at the discretioun of the magistrat within quhais jurisdictioun sik personis happynis to be apprehendit ffor the first falt: Banishing of the Realme for the secund falt, and justifying to the deid [sentencing to death] for the thrid falt."

Act of Parliament of Scotland, 24 August 1560

"In all this tyme [1559] all kirkmennis goodis and geir wer spoulzeit and reft fra thame, in eurie place quhair the sayme culd be apprehedit; for eurie man for the maist part that culd get any thing pertenyng to any kirkmen, thocht the same as wele won geir."

A Diurnal of Occurrents

All from the footnotes of Buckle, of which more anon.


"Life is getting better; life is more fun now."

And that's why Russian workers aren't going on strike so much, and why any who do are likely to be terrorists or dupes incited by US agents. This oddly resonant observation by a spokesman for the Russian ruling elite was made last September, according to the eXile's unfortunately non-satirical article about the Russian labour movement.

Another deadly serious, though funny, article demolishes a US 'social science' book's convenient and implausible claim that Siberia is worthless to Russia.

Elsewhere, the eXile's more usual sensitive, caring tone is maintained by the War Nerd, explaining the complex history of Haiti to his fellow Americans, and Mark Ames contemplating the US Civil War in the light of Cold Mountain:
The problem with the American Civil War is that, in the hands of our culture, this most wonderful of all bloodbaths has been turned into nothing more than a period piece chick flick, a costume ball full of stupid Christian platitudes about how war is bad for children and other living things, a backdrop for the most maudlin of dumb-broad fantasies and hackneyed Harlequin trash.
I haven't seen the movie myself, but that sounds about right.

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