[The trains were never forgotten, but the extent of their influence only came to light with the arrival of the read more

[The trains were never forgotten, but the extent of their influence only came to light with the arrival of the internet and the subsequent flowering of genealogical research. This obsession with roots will be felt especially keenly by foundlings, who often have no way of exploring their family histories.] I notice that genealogical sites now have warnings on them saying people should be ready for little surprises, ... They're not all going to find themselves descended from King Henry VIII or Richard Cur de Lion or Wellington. This is rather strange because it was pretty taken for granted a few generations ago that families had all kinds of little moments where things had gone not according to the book. It was just one of those things. You tried to accommodate it. There was no social welfare. You just had to sort it out within villages, the families, the parish. Children went to the workhouse, but people knew about it. Nowadays, there's a kind of surprise that these cases were so commonplace.

Lent is a time of prayer, but not for gloomy faces. Some people choose to give things up, but that's read more

Lent is a time of prayer, but not for gloomy faces. Some people choose to give things up, but that's a matter of personal piety. Many parishioners choose to add something, like prayer or extra worship services, or take on a cause.

If health insurance was working properly, the sicker you are, the more protection you would have. It seems to be read more

If health insurance was working properly, the sicker you are, the more protection you would have. It seems to be working backwards, the sicker you are, the more trouble you have paying bills.

By and large what we see is that hospitals need good, flexible space that can accommodate any number of services.

By and large what we see is that hospitals need good, flexible space that can accommodate any number of services.

We have a lot of guys who are versatile. That's what keeps you in this league sometimes, and we've just read more

We have a lot of guys who are versatile. That's what keeps you in this league sometimes, and we've just got to show that again.

Overall we had a great team effort. It was good to get the win under tough conditions.

Overall we had a great team effort. It was good to get the win under tough conditions.

These are some of the poorest countries with the weakest health indicators in the world. People are pretty cynical when read more

These are some of the poorest countries with the weakest health indicators in the world. People are pretty cynical when they look at Africa, but these countries have turned it around.

It's one thing to be brave -- another to be stupid!

It's one thing to be brave -- another to be stupid!

We sat around and I fed them barbecue and whiskey. And pretty soon everyone started to compete with each other read more

We sat around and I fed them barbecue and whiskey. And pretty soon everyone started to compete with each other on the guitars. It seemed the more everyone drank and ate, the more everyone got into it.