Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2010/02/22
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]The most OTT palaces around nowadays are those of Robert Mugabe, built despite his converting the breadbasket of Africa int a grindingly poor nation. Desperate. Frank On 22 Feb, 2010, at 15:22, Wendy Thurman wrote: > The palaces Saddam Hussein built in Iraq are unbelievable and they cost the > Iraqi economy dearly at the time of their construction due to the sanctions > imposed on the regime. At the very large Victory compound adjacent to > Baghdad's airport, there are three palaces I know of and possibly another- > I > lost track. The man built his grandchildren an entire Flintstones village. > I've been in what's left of Uday Hussein's home on the Tigris in Baghdad > and > even in destruction it was awfully impressive (completely demolished due to > construction of the US Embassy, which is an architectural monster conceived > in paranoia). > > I stop before I get political :) > > Wendy > > On Mon, Feb 22, 2010 at 4:32 PM, Jayanand Govindaraj <jayanand at > gmail.com>wrote: > >> Ruling elites bankrupting the state in the pursuit of even more grandiose >> frippery is not new - one of the primary reasons that the Roman Empire >> collapsed is the import of luxury goods (silk, spices,etc) from the East >> reached such a crescendo that it literally bankrupted the empire, and the >> inevitable debasement of the currency was the final nail in the coffin! >> Cheers >> Jayanand >> >> On Mon, Feb 22, 2010 at 4:39 PM, Douglas Sharp <douglas.sharp at gmx.de> >> wrote: >> >>> The castles on the Rhine are mostly the real thing - knights in armour >> and >>> all that - none of your renaissance "My architect can put more twiddly >> bits >>> on it than yours" kind of stuff with white & gold-leaf furniture, >> ridiculous >>> ormolu clocks and badly silvered mirrors. >>> >>> Ludwig of Bavaria nearly bankrupted the state with his love of fairytale >>> castles - it is rumoured that this was the real reason for him drowning, >> not >>> suicide. >>> >>> It all boils down to the difference between defending yourself with walls >>> and weapons or with a barrage of wealth - I prefer the former style of >>> castle, >>> like this one: >>> >>> >>> >> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/DMS/UK/Dales/Swaledale/Richmond_Sunset.jpg.html >>> >>> >> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/DMS/UK/Dales/Swaledale/Richmond_Castle_Keep.jpg.html >>> >>> Never besieged, never a bow drawn nor a cannon fired in anger, but it >>> certainly let people know who the boss was. >>> >>> Cheers >>> Douglas >>> >>> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Leica Users Group. >> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >> > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information