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Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
The site of the link above contains more links, one of which yielded this bit of history:
The grand designs of Philip II
of Spain came undone through the Dutch Revolt at the end of the 16th Century; one of the keys,
according to Montesquieu, was the successful Dutch blockade of Iberian saltworks which led directly to
Spanish bankruptcy.
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
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A cause of the French Revolution I never heard of before: The gabelle, a salt tax: it is in my cictionary.
France has always been a
major producer of salt and any discussion of saltmaking in France includes discussion of the gabelle, the
salt tax which was a significant cause of the French Revolution ( 1 2 ), but salt remains important
today. The magnitude of the gabelle is mind-boggling; from 1630 to 1710, the tax increased tenfold
from 14 times the cost of production to 140 times the cost of production, according to Pierre Laszlo in
his book Salt: Grain of Life (Columbia Univ. Press).
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 13,858 |
An archive of fascinating facts such as this one— "The word for 'salt' apparently originates from the
name of the town Es-Salt, once the capital of the east bank of the Jordan, and probably older than
Jericho itself, and close to the Dead Sea."
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
item from history: Because so much salted meat was eaten, eight pints of beer a day were needed. And Sweden imported large amount of hops, because it greatly improved keeping qualities of beer.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Yep. And ribght down the road from Bat Teree
TEd
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Commercial break with truly mind-ringing jingling:
No salt salts like Morton Salt salts!
Beeboppin' regards,
WW
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Dear TEd & WW: Your posts do you great credit.
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Joined: Jul 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jul 2000
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My father told the story about Dickie 1 of England, who was the first recipient on an organ transplant, a heart given to him cross-species from a lion, hence his nickname. Someone asked him if he ever felt any pain. He replied, "No, it never pains, but it roars."
TEd
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Joined: Sep 2001
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Ted, if you just thought of that off the top o' your head, you're in a class almost by yourself. Are you one of the panelists on "My Word" by any chance?
Best regards,
WordWaster by comparison
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Joined: Aug 2001
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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I suspect phrases like that just jump out all the time, from the hop of his TEd...
Ribght?
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