Rehashing An Old Post

The image on the right is from a Vichy propaganda poster: "The killers always return to the scene of their crimes". In World War II both sides tried to appropriate Joan for their cause. The cathedral at Rouen in flames is used as the stake for Joan of Arc. The villains returning to the scene of the crime are the English bombers.




I think this image is still the best thing on this blog but since that was in the very first post and so few people make it all the way back to the beginning of the blog, I thought I had better move it up to the front. 




Since this is my second pro-Vichy reference then I will, for the sake of balance add a Free-France Element. After the jump is the famous scene from Casablanca where Czechoslovakian-born freedom-fighter Victor Lazlo leads the patrons of Rik's in singing the Marseillaise in response to the German national anthem.

You Never Know

I intend for the following clips to be demonstrations that assuming someone is behaving like a rational actor often amounts to the same as making no assumption at all.

The first video is from the New York Times and concerns the Umbrella Man, a man seen holding an umbrella -on what was a clear, sunny day - beside JFK's car as the shots were fired. Surely there could only be a sinister explanation?

The second video is from the American version of Family Fortunes. The topic is "Words or Phrases Beginning with 'pot;".

Aprés Demi-Mois Le Deluge

I really should have waited a month to use the Louis XV* / Madame da Pompadour (the Maitresse-En-Titre) line. The cause of the delay in posts is my discovery of Edge.org's 2012 Annual Question. Last year's question "What scientific concept would improve everybody's cognitive toolkit?" was a revelation for me. In the  responses to this year's question, Emily Pronin's answer is similar what I had called the Godfather Complex. Therfore I wanted to put certain post on the back burner until I could digest all of this year's responses.   Anyway, after half a month, here comes a flood of posts.

* I thought Louis XV was mentioned in the second episode of 'John Adams' last night but that was set in 1775 and Louis XVI acceded in 1774. I am thoroughly enjoying the show despite my strong dislike of Paul Giamatti's acting. The most interesting scene has been the inoculation of Mr. Adam's family. A young boy with 'the pox' is brought from house to house in the Massachusetts countryside. Puss from a scar is then rubbed into an inscision made on the person to be inoculated. Vaccination would not be introduced until 1796. More can be read here.

Happy 600th Birthday

600 years ago today, possibly, in the village of Domrémy, Joan of Arc was born to the magnificently named pair of Jacques d'Arc and Isabel Romée. It is one of the remarkable stories* from history. There is much debate about the role she played in battle - was she more important for the morale she or for her tactics. However, during her trial for heresy she displayed great intellect and constantly dumbfounded her inquisitors. 


* Wouldn't a show about someone who uses great intelligence to achieve a position of prominence in an organization be worth watching.


Probably the most famous exchange is the following:

The most famous exchange was the question put to Joan: did she know if she was in God’s grace; to which she replied: “If I am not, may God put me there; and if I am, may God so keep me.”