Origins of impeachment
Where did the term ‘impeach’ come from? The process for putting a president on trial has nothing to do with peaches. It is derived from the French verb ‘empecher’, which literally means to shackle the foot.
— It was first used in its modern sense for the process of removing errant members of the English House of Lords in the 14th century.
— In 18th-century London, a variation on the word, ‘peaching’, was used by criminals to describe it when one of their kind had been captured by police.
— The process of impeachment was written into the US constitution from the beginning but it wasn’t until 1868 that a president, Andrew Johnson, was impeached for the first time (for dismissing the secretary for war, Edwin M. Stanton). He survived by one vote in the Senate.
Turkish might
How do Turkey’s military forces measure up against other countries? It has: 735,000 military personnel, 355,000 of whom are in active service and 380,000 of whom are reserves.
— 1,067 military aircraft, putting it 10th out of 137 countries assessed by globalfirepower.com.
— 207 fighters (14th), 3,200 tanks (7th), 9,500 armored vehicles (7th).
— Its navy is weaker, with no aircraft carriers or destroyers. It has 16 frigates and 12 submarines.
Overall, it is assessed as the world’s ninth strongest military power.
Geography of harassment
In which cities are women most likely to be sexually harassed? Percentage of women reporting that the chances of been targeted in public spaces are ‘extremely high’.
Highest
Bogota 79
Johannesburg 77
Kampala 72
Lima 71
Delhi 70
Lowest
Dublin 11
Stockholm 12
Hanoi 13
New York 16
Toronto 23
Source: Plan International
Saying it with emojis
What are the most commonly used emojis on social media?
1. Face with tears of joy
2. Red heart
3. Smiling face with heart-shaped eyes
4. Rolling on floor, laughing
5. Smiling face with smiling eyes
6. Folded hands
Source: Unicode
This article is in The Spectator’s November 2019 US edition.
