Judicial independence is a recent beast. At the outset of the common law, a judge was the king’s agent appointed durante bene placito regis or at His Majesty’s pleasure. Sir Edward Coke, alongside William Blackstone one of the common law’s best known midwives of the common law, can attest to the effect of James I’s… Continue reading #OTD 6 October
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#OTD 5 October
It is the irony of the modern era that Malcolm McLuhan’s thesis – “the medium is the message” – waned during his life and waxes as his collateral thesis “the global village” unfolds around us. These ideas gained traction with the 1962 publication of McLuhan’s “The Gutenberg galaxy : the making of typographic man”. The… Continue reading #OTD 5 October
#OTD 4 October
Our national identity depends. There’s a consequence in being the less populous neighbour, and the New Zealand or the Canadian traveller may have a badge of their flag sewn on their backpack to avoid being taken for an Australian or an American. It’s more complex when nationalities live in a nation. Whether Taiwan is or… Continue reading #OTD 4 October
#OTD 3 October
In history class I well remember a student asking our teacher “Why are we learning about German reunification?” and our teacher answering “Who knows, it may again.” We all laughed wholeheartedly at the naivete of the old. A few years later, 3 October 1990, Germany reunited. How do we know our history? One well-known OTD… Continue reading #OTD 3 October
#OTD 2 October
2 October is the International Day of Non-Violence, building upon Mahatma Ghandi’s birth day in 1869. On the one hand, 2 October marks the birth of two military titans from the Great War, Marshall Foch and Field Marshal von Hindenburg. On the other, 2 October marks the birth of Cordell Hull, the US Secretary of… Continue reading #OTD 2 October
#OTD 1 October
Cannabis arrived in Mexico from Spain, this much is agreed. Whence sprang the Mexican word marijuana / marihuana, is not. One narrative calls on mallihuan, the Nahuatl word for prisoner. This explanation, clearly enough, may be a useful piece of propaganda for opponents of the drug; the self-imprisonment afforded by misuse was widely publicised by Harry… Continue reading #OTD 1 October
#OTD 4 September
When we invent something, we go to the patent office. When we work out how to sell it, we go to the trademark office. We may even do the second, first. Not so George Eastman. On 4 September 1888, he made two applications. The first was to patent his camera. The second was to trademark… Continue reading #OTD 4 September
#OTD 3 September
3 September offers something for the republic and something for the realm. While Richard the Lionheart had been crowned on 3 September 1189, Oliver Cromwell had major victories at the Battles of Dunbar and Worcester, on, respectively, 3 September 1650 and 3 September 1651. Sic gloria; on 3 September 1658, Oliver died and son Richard… Continue reading #OTD 3 September
#OTD 26 August
Times change. Back in the day, a dictator was an entirely legitimate state of affairs; in an emergency the senate gave you full power for a limited term to get things done. It was Julius Caesar who upped the ante by wrangling the appointment dictator perpetuo. Not a great move; he was assassinated a month… Continue reading #OTD 26 August
#OTD 25 August
Law is to liberty as Sisyphus is to rock. So lawyer and slaveowner Francis Scott Key is largely left to history as author of the anthemic “land of the free”. A half century and civil war on, the law was tolerably clear; the US Constitution was amended to address slavery, citizenship and voting. Inevitably, white… Continue reading #OTD 25 August