I must admit, I have never heard of Mondo Dolls. They probably came along well after I left school.

I have never found History to be boring. I was an avid reader from when I first learned to read. My parents brought a set of "Richards Topical Encyclopaedia." Volume 14 was my favourite. It contained;

Manual Arts. I an a Fitter, Turner, Boilermaker, Limited Electrical, Electronics & as a hobby I do Woodwork.

Games & Sports. I played Soccer, Hocky, Rounders etc

Fairy Tales. Great for all the Grand kids now especially if I add my own spin. ;-)

Fables & Stories. Wonderful stories of the bygone past with great meanings & life lessons behind them. Aesop, Beowulf, King Arthur, Canterbury Tales, The Great Ronald. Jason & the Argonauts. Sinbad the Sailor.

Myths. Ahhh.... my favourite. Stories of the Old Gods from many different lands with great lessons to be learnt. Apollo, Aphrodite, Proserpine, Echo, Narcissus.

Who were these people? Why are there stories about them? Are they true? Where did they come from? What was it like living back then?

This is where my interest in History started. Delving into History is, even at my age <70, is such fun. Going to the places on holidays & hearing the locals telling all the little nuances behind the history, their ancestors part in the big picture. Sometimes the history we learnt in School is found to be just plain wrong. The local stories around Carcassonne are fascinating.

No, History has never been boring to me

if you start trying to do your family tree, you'll find the history behind the names can be just as interesting.
History is only boring to those who have no interest in their past - or their country's.

Reposted.

G'day Val...I had in the past, an old Aunty. She was a headmistress at a suburban school. I remember one time, her relaying to me the story of psychological torture, a group of her students were subjected to during religious instruction at their local Sunday school.

The Sunday school teacher was using dolls too: paper ones; the type that are cut out of a single piece of paper in origami fashion, so when complete, make a lovely little line of human figures all joined at the fingertips, (until the paper runs out)!

I posted this on the wrong site. Hopefully this lands in the correct paddock !

Well...in the typical fervour of a religious instructor of the time, ( keeping on-theme with history), unsuspecting children were treated to the theatre of the burning of those innocent little figurines over a flame, representing the fires of hell! Kids talk!

But what I really wished to discuss with you, is the important subject of history. The reason history lessons a "bored"-down today, is not really a modern day phenomena at all. It is more a policy imposed by the elite of the left wing politic, (my supposition), that have infiltrated our once useful educational institutions, in order to impose a "view" of history suitable to a cause!

(Cont., below)...

Above:

For example, take the subject of the "white Australia" policy of old. A subject only ever raised in modern times with deprecation! But there once was a time, (what a sweet phrase), when history was actually some poor buggers life!

In the case in example here though, that was a time when "Chinaman" was a swear-word.
Are you familiar with the Darwin riots of the early eighteen hundred Val? Well that was a culmination of frustration and loss the local townsfolk felt at the time, sensing to be outnumbered by foreigners.

So "they took matters into their own hands", (from a phrase to a significant sentence now)! And rebelling against the often misplaced loyalty of our leaders, rose up against the Governor and corralled him in his quarters, where he stayed until rescued by a Navel flotilla sent from the south, to facilitate his rescue.

So the blossoming of this little historical uprising, was the instigation of the White Australia policy. A document designed to pacify the population, and aid it in the cure of its insecurities, by targeting a known cause of friction!

The Governor I might add, bade farewell to the naughty folk of Darwin forever, and the wise old men of power never trusted the welfare of such a dignitary of state-power to reside in Darwin until recently.

Well Val, trust that this boring little ramble of mine was within the editors guidelines, and look forward to talking again at your next article....keep up the good work!

Past local History can be very interesting too. I had a Great Grandmother & Aunts who told me stories of their & their parents past.

Her side of the family came to Australia after the Convict transportation was stopped. Never the less the Transport of people from Britain still carried on. He father was, "Caught poaching Raeberts on the Liads Lund" & were given the choice, prison or the Colonies'. So the whole family was shipped to Australia. It was at the time of the clearances.

They eventually settled in Ravenswood & had a Gold mine on the banks of Sandy Creek. The Stories I had told to me on my Grandmothers lap were better than anything I would ever read. What's more they were true. True Pioneers. Her & Grandad fought in Gaelic & spoke fluent Aboriginal from the Tribe around Ravenswood.

When I went to School we read "Booran" by M J Unwin. " Oh," she said, "that's James Morrel he was shipwrecked & lived with the Bindal People until he was rescued." She damm well knew him, & I got to hear some more of the stories associated with his 17 years with the Aboriginals that aren't in the Book.

History is essential; given if we know what happened before in very similar circumstances, it informs us what to expect when those things repeat themselves!

As important as it is, the problems with history seems to be; nobody learns the lessons of history? Otherwise, we'd not keep endlessly repeating them?

And so we keep mining our coal and burning it around the world, even as the permafrost starts to melt again; signaling a possible (10 minutes to midnight) extinction as before!

And don't get me confused with the ratbag green movement, who just want to impose their will, rather than persuade with irrefutable facts, like evidence based history!

Even so, we could burn all the coal we like if we just accompanied that burn with broad scale algae farming; as a means to sequester carbon; as well as provide endlessly sustainable fuel along with complete self sufficiency?

Algae absorb 2.5 times their bodyweight in atmospheric carbon and under optimised conditions, double that absorption capacity and oil production every 24 hours!

Those interested in earning mucho plenty carbon credits, N.B!

Sorry Val, I've heard of history, but not Mondo Dolls!

Would that you could have been my teacher, or someone who cares just like you!

That said, I have had teachers who made boring subjects (maths and science) interesting?

And those kids lucky enough to have a truly dedicated Teacher like you, would have been very lucky and granted a rare privilege!

Today, I believe, it's all about the paypacket; unionized dullards and just getting as much money as possible 9-5?

Or pulpit pounders only interested in indoctrinating gullible kids with their flights of fancy and fables; invariably presented as established fact, rather than the conventional wisdom it could have been for those interested in flat earth fairy tales?

Little wonder the brighter kids rejected it and even bailed out; missing half theirs and ours possible opportunities; as the next Einstein?

Why I've heard that the man who had the highest recorded IQ, was found on the back of a garbage truck! Such a waste of irreplaceable talent!
Rhrosty.