Railroad Tracks The US standard railroad gauge is 4 feet, 8.5 inches. That’s an exceedingly odd number. Why was that gauge used? Because that’s the way they built them in England, and English expatriates designed the US railroads. Why did the English build them like that? Because the first rail lines were built by the…… Continue reading Railroad Tracks
Category: History
History
Vietnam – An American complex
Being an American who has lived in Vietnam, I really cannot understand why (in what it would seem) in every political election we have to keep mentioning Vietnam and who did what there. I am no academic on the issue but what I can tell you is that what happened there certainly was not good for either country and therefore do not understand why it would be seen as a political “badge of honor” for current politicians.
’Support the troops’ – the transformation of a nation and its armed forces
I grew up wondering what it meant when, on American TV shows, the statement ‘Support The Troops’ always seemed to trump all other arguments. Saying it was usually followed by a moment of stunned silence while the person who had said it gloated and the opponent gathered himself from the shock of being accused of not ‘supporting the troops’.