So is there now some arbitrary cut-off point, the Crimean War (1853-6) perhaps?

BBC: Fallen soldiers: Is it right to take images of bodies?

So I cite those facts because it goes straight to the point about the very political and arbitrary action taken by some folks in Congress, by Republicans in Congress, to try to play political games with the payroll tax cut.

WHITEHOUSE: Press Briefing

"So for the government to focus on taking arbitrary numbers of pupils off the SEN register is entirely the wrong starting point, " said Ms Hodgson.

BBC: Adjournment debate

David Sloan Wilson, of Binghamton University, in New York state, agrees with that point, but reckons the actual moral sense an individual acquires is not arbitrary, as a language is, but is functionally adapted to circumstances.

ECONOMIST: Human evolution

It's not clear at this point why a year-old system is being stifled by this seemingly arbitrary restriction, but with the PlayStation 3 offering developers Bluetooth out of the box, it seems that Microsoft either needs to change its tune or risk losing the small-but-vocal "rocker wannabe" demographic to the enemy.

ENGADGET: Report: Microsoft not down with third-party 360 wireless peripherals