[dgun]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raphael_Semmes



1. The Brits built the Confederacy a fine ship, the Alabama
2. Captain Semmes, more IMO seeking vengeance for a frustrating career with the US Navy than the loyalty he professed to the cause, spent a couple of years terrorizing Union merchants on the high seas.
3. After the war the Yanks sue the Brits
4. ?
5. Canadian independence (profit)

Or so the story goes.

All hail Raphael Semmes, founding father of Canada.

[houndred]

How on earth do you link 3 to 5?

[dgun]

It was a joke.



But a book I read recently claimed that the US threatened to annex Canada due to the Brits building warships for the Confederacy and this was supposedly one of the factors. Not sure I buy that, but interesting as historical spin if nothing else.

[houndred]

Oh very funny ???

[dgun]

It's a common meme in these parts, houndred. Based on an episode of South Park.

[Potemkin]

The South Park episode was parodying the mentality behind the Dot Com bubble of the early 2000s. Most of the Dot Com companies set up then seemed to have no assets and no rational means of raising revenue. Their business plan seemed to consist of the following hastily scribbled on the back of a Starbucks menu:

Phase 1: Set up Dot Com business.
Phase 2: Spend millions on extravagent public launch, lots of champagne and celebrities.
Phase 3: ?
Phase 4: Profit!

[houndred]

I think I have it.