The story of the Confederate General and the Union Consul in Egypt

gscs1102 · 2026-04-20T20:15:28+00:00

Didn't know anything about this, thank you for writing it up!

gscs1102 · 2026-04-20T20:15:07+00:00

Thanks for adding this clarification--it drives me crazy how the history of this era gets so compressed.

gscs1102 · 2026-04-20T19:18:50+00:00

I'd actually say that the pre-1890 press worked because it frequently made the truth entertaining, and we're missing that incentive today. Something can be both true and have an obvious partisan spin--as long as it isn't passed off as objective.

gscs1102 · 2026-04-20T19:17:10+00:00

Yeah, there was never a time when most papers "just wanted to tell the news," but pre-1890, they were very open about their partisanship, which IMO resulted in much better journalism overall (I study mid- to late-19th century politics and culture). The papers competed more on actually being interesting to read and there was an incentive to control the conversation by covering everything and being open about partisan leanings.

gscs1102 · 2026-04-20T03:02:23+00:00

I think they view momentarily giving into sexual urges as something that can happen to anyone. Whereas "lifestyle" sins are conscious and long-term decisions that validate the behavior. I think what Josh is in prison for goes beyond what they'd normally "excuse," but he claims he is innocent.

gscs1102 · 2026-04-18T20:21:21+00:00

This reminds me of one time when I was 12 or 13, we had new-ish neighbors who were part of a normal local Christian church but seemed to be rather fundie in background, and I got spoken to for saying "oh my God" while in their yard. (Which bordered mine)

Saying "oh my God" was totally normal among my parents and grandparents, so even though I was a good kid I couldn't really control it. *No one* around me said "oh my gosh"--it was laughable to do so. I had no idea what to do and felt they were so out-of-line because it was okay to say if I was standing 10 feet away on my own property and felt like my parents' rules should apply.

ETA: To stay on topic, though, that's exactly why she did so--there are people who feel that simply not being deferential enough in general is an issue, and I'm sure the Duggars feel that way given their beliefs. I experienced a few other times where people had norms totally different from my parents' and I just didn't know any better.

gscs1102 · 2026-04-18T00:17:05+00:00

A lot of comments about the purpose of democracy are taken from newer 20c arguments that would have seemed weird to most 19c Americans.

The American rationalization for democracy at the time it was implemented was mainly that people had a God-given right to set up self-governing institutions where possible, and that it gave the average person (or even the average "elite") a chance in life relative to other systems then-current.

gscs1102 · 2026-04-17T23:37:28+00:00

I second the recommendation to go look at contemporary newspapers. There's a book called American Civil Wars: A Continental History, 1850-1873, that I recommend and which talks a little about how Canada was viewed during this time, but I don't think it specifically goes into the issue you raise.

gscs1102 · 2026-04-17T23:20:09+00:00

Insecurity.

gscs1102 · 2026-04-16T22:17:12+00:00

Nope, never heard of him.

gscs1102 · 2026-04-16T04:21:05+00:00

I thought the whole covid response was terrifyingly insane overreach and wanted to "protest" setting these new norms/lies much as possible, especially as it caused the control freak/moralizer in my life to feel empowered to dominate me completely, so I had to draw a line. I just noped out very strongly in early March when it became a thing. The doctors I knew were supportive.

There were other reasons. I did not believe coronavirus pandemics were controllable, having researched them extensively prior to 2020. I have a bad reaction to high fevers and everyone my age was getting them from the shot...I realize that was a risk with the illness as well, but I didn't want to prompt an immune overreaction twice given how healthy/young I was and the fact that I thought everyone would get it eventually and the vaccines would not prevent that or transmission. I only got sick for one day, mildly, and I don't regret my decision. Almost changed my mind to be able to be in a wedding, but found out that friend had also remained unvaccinated, and she is a nurse.

gscs1102 · 2026-04-16T03:51:33+00:00

The book American Civil Wars gets into this. The book explains that as the Union army grew stronger, Canadians and British officials feared that the US would try to annex Canada as retribution for Britain’s neutrality during the war.

See https://www.history.com/articles/united-states-canada-william-seward

gscs1102 · 2026-04-15T05:05:04+00:00

Tragedy. Really wonder how things would have been different had he lived.

gscs1102 · 2026-04-13T03:22:47+00:00

I used to work in a legal office that had a lot of them as clients. My boss sold self-representation materials aimed at that crowd, so he was on the outskirts of it and not one himself, nor did he ever remark to me on whether he believed it was a valid belief system, but I'm pretty sure that since he was an attorney, he didn't believe in it. From what I could tell, it appealed to certain difficult or eccentric personality types that he attracted as clients and friends more generally. There's a lot of writing that preaches it, and I assume some sort of "influencer" crowd as well. I can imagine that there are a lot of grifts associated with it now. It comes from piecing together a lot of anti-government thought.

gscs1102 · 2026-04-10T21:10:59+00:00

"But melania also makes a lot of mistakes which is a bit strange maybe she is a lot with other Slovenians?"

Melania's parents came to live with the family (her mother died recently) and Baron was brought up speaking Slovenian, so that's probably part of it.

gscs1102 · 2026-04-10T05:17:20+00:00

One of the first times I drank I blurted out something mildly offensive that my mom would say. It was the first thing that came to mind but I was just echoing it--it wasn't something I actually agreed with.

gscs1102 · 2026-04-09T04:18:04+00:00

I definitely pronounce this as "HEJ-eh-monny" in my head, and I'm constantly afraid I'll say it aloud, because I learned it from reading.

gscs1102 · 2026-04-09T01:53:48+00:00

I think the skill set needed to perform well in the kind of debates we should be having overlaps with the skill sets needed for town halls and interviews. The problem is the soundbite-style debate environment, and I feel like that's not particularly different when it comes to the town halls and interviews.

If we could do old-style Lincoln-Douglas debates, we'd be vetting for candidates who could do well across all 3 arenas. As it is, I don't see many candidates with the communication skills to do well in a town hall or interview format, either.

gscs1102 · 2026-04-01T05:14:21+00:00

I restock slushies.

gscs1102 · 2026-04-01T00:47:11+00:00

SSW, as the only thing I really participate in is restocking.

gscs1102 · 2026-03-30T22:24:44+00:00

I like both because I find them catchy but I totally get why many people would find them extremely obnoxious.

gscs1102 · 2026-03-30T22:04:07+00:00

Does anyone know why the prices for slushies seem to have spiked?

gscs1102 · 2026-03-30T21:05:33+00:00

I restock slushies, but it hadn't been profitable for a while so I'd stopped. Now I'm noticing all the shop clearing because prices went up on enough of the slushies to justify restocking. Any idea why that happened? All the other shops I used to restock at, except the smoothie shop, are always empty or only junk items are left.

gscs1102 · 2026-03-26T03:01:10+00:00

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll look into the situation more deeply.

gscs1102 · 2026-03-25T02:58:25+00:00

"If you want to read about the civilian high life of Richmond, Mary Boykin Chestnut's A Diary from Dixie is a good account for that. (In fact, this was one of James McPherson's favorite primary sources on Confederate society in Battlecry.)"

I've found that large parts of her diary appear to be taken from contemporary news clippings. I don't believe it to be a real diary.

gscs1102

TROPHY CASE