Whatever happened to that wonderful old tradition - "exile".

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

You know, like Napoleon - "able was I ere I saw Elba?"

Why can't we round up the currant miscreants and exile them for the remainder. I googled Elba, however, and it looks far too nice- island off of Tuscany, beautiful blue waters, etc. etc.

And then I remembered an old, strange 1934 documentary I once saw called "Man of Aran."

Aran is a craggy, rocky, isolated, desolate island off the coast of Ireland. Man of Aran follows the daily life of some of the few inhabitants. They have to aspire to be called "poor as dirt", because first they have to make the dirt! I'm not kidding. These people have to haul seaweed and then let it decay and compost until it resembles something like dirt that they can then grow their turnips or whatever in. I smile as I think of George Bush making dirt for Dick Cheney to plant turnips in. There's not even any brush to clear - I think they have to heat their huts with goat dung or something.

What made me think of this is that Sean Hannity said yesterday that he would head the "Conservatives in Exile". What a hypocrite! Wouldn't he have to GO INTO exile first? What's stopping him? Perhaps we could lease Aran from Ireland and have Bush and Cheney on one side and Hannity and his minions on the other.

http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0025456/

[Evoman]

1. It kind of lost its purpose after the world became connected.

Even if bush did get exiled to Aran, he would just build a mansion and get airdrops of food and goods, as well as take vacations in Ireland with his boats and helicopters.

You can't just dump somebody on an island. And even if you did, it wouldnt be fair to the inhabitants.

[thrift_store_angel]

2. No place would take them. n/t

[leftofcool]

3. This is America not France

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

4. But aren't we much Frenchier now that we have elected a Democrat? nt

[Occulus]

5. Why outside the US? I want them all in an "interesting" place where we can all keep our eyes on 'em.

This place.

Nomans Land (also mapped "No Man's Land" or "No Mans Land" or "No Man's island") is an uninhabited island 612 acres (2.477 km²) in size, located in the town of Chilmark, Dukes County, Massachusetts, USA. It is situated about three miles (5 km) off the southwest corner of the island of Martha's Vineyard.

The island likely has unexploded ordnance dating from its role as a practice bombing range from 1943-1996. Consequently, the island is closed to the public.

:D

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

6. Sounds ok - but does it have dirt?

If it does, it must all be trucked off - dirt is a luxury!

[Occulus]

10. Dirt, a lake or two, plenty of room to roam around...

but here's the fun part: randomly distributed unexploded ordinance.

Every step is like a box of chocolates.

[guitar man]

7. hear hear!!

I'm all for reviving that old tradition, but before we send them into exile, I say we revive another old tradition as a proper sendoff for them! :D

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

8. You're just a sentimental old fool - like me! nt.

[guitar man]

9. yep ;)

:hi:

[muriel_volestrangler]

11. Plus, exiling Napoleon to Elba didn't work

He came back to France, was hailed as Emperor again, and then they had to fight the Battle of Waterloo to defeat him for the final time.

After that, he was exiled to a far more desolate place - St. Helena.

The island has a history of over 500 years since it was first discovered as an uninhabited island by the Portuguese in 1502. Claiming to be Britain’s second oldest colony, this is one of the most isolated islands in the world and was for several centuries of vital strategic importance to ships sailing to Europe from Asia and South Africa. For several centuries the British have used the island as a place of exile, most notably for Napoleon Bonaparte, Dinuzulu kaCetshwayo and over 5,000 Boer prisoners.
...
Isolation

Saint Helena is one of the most isolated places in the world, located more than 2000 km (1200 mi) from the nearest major landmass. As there is currently no airport on Saint Helena, travel to the island is by ship only. The RMS Saint Helena berths in James Bay approximately thirty times per year. The ship calls on such other ports as Cape Town, Ascension Island, Tenerife, Vigo, Walvis Bay and Isle of Portland, UK. <2>

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

Or, for somewhere even more isolated, the dependency of Tristan da Cunha:

Tristan da Cunha (pronounced /ˈtrɪstən də ˈkuːnə/) is a group of remote volcanic islands in the south Atlantic Ocean, 2,816 km (1,750 miles) from South Africa and 3,360 km (2,088 miles) from South America. It is a dependency of the British overseas territory of Saint Helena, 2,430 km (1,510 miles) to the north. The territory consists of the main island, Tristan da Cunha (area: 98 km², 38 sq mi ), as well as several uninhabited islands: Inaccessible Island and the Nightingale Islands. Gough Island (area: 91 km², 35 sq mi ), situated 395 km (245 mi) south east of the main island, is also considered part of the territory. Tristan da Cunha is the most remote archipelago in the world.
...
The remote location of the islands makes transport to the outside world difficult. There is no airport, so the islands can only be reached by boat. Fishing boats from South Africa regularly service the islands. The RMS Saint Helena formerly connected the islands to South Africa, and the United Kingdom via Saint Helena and Ascension Island, but she no longer calls at Tristan da Cunha.

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

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

12. Good work - NOW we are putting our thinking caps on!

Isolated, uninhabited, remote, inaccessible - all excellent adjectives. However, "hostile" "frigid" and/or "sweltering" are missing.

[muriel_volestrangler]

13. How about a couple of 'Desolation Islands':

The Kerguelen Islands (pronounced /ˈkɝːɡɨlɨn/; in French commonly Îles Kerguelen or Archipel de Kerguelen but officially Archipel des Kerguelen or Archipel Kerguelen, French pronunciation: ), also known as Desolation Island, is a group of islands in the southern Indian Ocean. It is a territory of France.

The Kerguelen Islands are located at 49°15′S 69°35′E / -49.25, 69.583 (Kerguelen Islands), which is antipodal to the area where Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Montana meet in North America. The main island, Grande Terre, is 6,675 km² and it is surrounded by another 300 smaller islands and islets, forming an archipelago of 7,215 km². The climate is raw and chilly but not severely cold throughout the year - much like that of the outer Aleutian Islands of Alaska - with frequent high winds, and while the surrounding seas are generally rough, they remain ice-free year-round.
...
In the seafaring novel Desolation Island, one of the Aubrey–Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian, the crew repair their disabled ship on an island that strongly resembles Kerguelen, although a later book in the series asserts that it this was a different Desolation Island, located somewhere "further south and east," (probably Heard Island, though this island wasn't confirmed to exist until the 1850s.)

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

Heard Island and McDonald Islands (abbreviated as HIMI<1>) are barren islands located in the Southern Ocean, about two-thirds of the way from Madagascar to Antarctica, 7718 km due south of Rajapur, Maharashtra, India<2> and approximately 4099 km west of Perth.<3> They have been territories of Australia since 1947, and contain the only two active volcanoes in Australian territory, one of which, Mawson Peak, is the highest Australian mountain. The group's size is 372 square kilometres (144 sq mi) in area.

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

Neither are permanently inhabited, though the Kerguelen Islands usually have some scientists on them. Heard Island is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, though, and it'd be a shame to pollute it ...

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

14. Ooooh! Active volcanoes - excellent.

"Raw and chilly" is an acceptable substitute for frigid. The only thing lacking so far is giant carnivorous insects.