Guy Fawkes day, terrorism and intolerance, George Washington and Election Day. I think both Sullivan and the blog he links to are reaching a bit with the torture connection, but still an interesting historical tidbit, even if what Washington wrote looks more like pragmatism than principle. I haven't been able to find anything explicit about election day being Guy Fawkes day, but it seems like it couldn't be accidental. Did 18th century republicans claim Guy Fawkes as their own?

Also, places change:

17th and 18th-century Bostonians celebrated the anniversary of the English Gunpowder Plot as Pope's Day. To mark the occasion, residents of the North and South Ends held separate parades, carrying effigies of the pope with them. Both parades led to the center of town, near the Old State House. When the two groups met, a riot typically ensued; each group fought to secure the other's effigy of the Pope. The group that succeeded in doing so was declared the winner.

This would be before the potato famine. _
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12:12:33 PM, Monday 5 November 2007

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Punjab has achar gohst as a special this week, and it's glorious. Pickles in curries are a brilliant idea. _
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11:34:57 AM, Monday 5 November 2007

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Vetinari just quoted Jeeves. I'd never thought about it before, but the resemblance is striking. _
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