www.simoncollier.ca

In 2005, ITV in the UK aired a documentary called “The Gunpowder Plot: Exploding the Legend” which sought to test whether or not Guy Fawkes would have been successful in murdering the King if he had not been discovered shortly before the explosion.

The Houses of Parliament of the time were rebuilt as accurately as possible on an army base in the countryside. The same type and amount of gunpowder was stored in similar barrels in the basement of the building, and the gunpowder was lit.

They didn’t really know how this would turn out, so they filled the room with dummies, camera and sensors so they could measure the effects of the explosion and get an idea of whether the king in particular would have been killed.

This is what happened when they lit the gunpowder. Do you think the king was ok?

Um… No. The king was blown apart and found in several pieces, and the sensors they had placed in the room were destroyed. (The cameras, of course, were expected to be destroyed.)

He is outspent 6-1 by his closest competitors in the election race, he’s (oddly) disadvantaged by being a white male, and he lost the last federal election even after he got the most votes with Al Gore. Despite all of this, he is in second place (after Obama). I happen to like Obama, but I like Edwards too. Here’s his speach from last night.