All posts tagged: centuryold

British Army lifts century-old beard ban – POLITICO

British Army lifts century-old beard ban – POLITICO

Published by skeptic

[ad_1] Officers and soldiers will be allowed to grow beards — but they must maintain a professional appearance and adhere to specific guidance on what their beards can look like, Carney said. The policy went into effect on Friday to allow those on Easter vacation to immediately start growing out their facial hair. Those going unshaven should expect to have their appearance reviewed to ensure that beards are in line with army regulations. On occasion, beards will still have to come off if the operational situation demands it. Grant Shapps, who is U.K. secretary of defense, is among the proponents of the new measure. He told the Times last year that banning beards in the army was “ridiculous” and called on the institution to “modernize.” With the change, Britain joins the armies of Denmark, Germany and Belgium, which already allow their troops to grow beards, the BBC reported. [ad_2] Source link

Solving a century-old byline mystery

Solving a century-old byline mystery

Published by skeptic

[ad_1] Who was “Atlanticus,” the writer who foreshadowed the Titanic disaster? Illustration by Matteo Giuseppe Pani. Sources: Getty. March 28, 2024, 1:23 PM ET This is an edition of Time-Travel Thursdays, a journey through The Atlantic’s archives to contextualize the present and surface delightful treasures. Sign up here. “Do you like to know whom a book’s by?” E. M. Forster asks in a 1925 essay on the question of anonymity in literature and journalism. The practice is fine in fiction, he argues, but not in news writing. Forster, however, wasn’t in charge: His essay, which appeared in the November 1925 issue of The Atlantic, was followed by an article bylined “Anonymous.” Though our magazine withheld bylines only in its first few years (not unusual for publications at the time), unnamed or unidentified writers remained a frequent sighting in our archives well into the 20th century. Some people were seemingly allowed to mask their identity so they could poke fun: In 1963, two women used a single pen name to publish a spirited takedown of holiday …

The case of Carrie Buck and the Supreme Court’s century-old crusade to control women

The case of Carrie Buck and the Supreme Court’s century-old crusade to control women

Published by skeptic

[ad_1] I’d like to take Alabama’s Chief Justice Tom Parker out for coffee and talk to him about his recent claim that frozen embryos are children, too.  Alabama’s Supreme Court recently and wrongly ruled embryos – in or out of the uterus – are children, and that destroying them is “an affront to God.”  I’d share with Justice Parker the trauma and expense my own daughter and her husband endured in their efforts to have children. I’d tell him how my daughter had four embryos implanted, yet, she only has two children. I’d explain in the simplest terms possible how it is that every month women all over the world slough off embryos that do not implant. I’d explain how my daughter sloughed off embryos that were surgically implanted at $30,000 a pop. I’d share with him how these sloughed-off embryos are then flushed down the toilet along with urine and the remains of menstrual flow because clearly Parker and the rest of the Alabama Supreme Court have no idea how a woman’s body functions, …