Well Grunt you found something we can agree on, I'm a big time Hornblower fan. I have to admit though that Richard Sharpe is giving him a run for his money at the moment. I met some Napoleanic re-enactors in London, outside Wellington's house, a few months ago. They were going to be participating in new Hornblower programs towards the end of 2000. I dont' know how long it will take for them to show up on PBS. What do you thing of Aubrey and Maturin?
With regard to the cultural imperialism thing, I've seen quite a bit of it. There's a surprising amount of resentment about it in some countries, particularly the UK. Of course I've seen Brits do the same thing in other countries.
About beards. This whole deal really runs back to the time of Rutherford. When he took over, a certain number of Bethelites grew beards in protest, ala' Russell. Almost no one knows about the original reason, it's just become a tradition. Ever since that time beards have been virtually verboten though I am seeing that crack in a few more places now, especially outside the US but a few places within the States have become more tolerant, of course the CO tends to go balistic when he comes around.
Edited by - Xandit on 25 February 2001 23:37:4