From Wikipedia-
Politics-
The article describing the position and its current incumbent.
Prime Minister of Crimea
Sergey Aksyonov
World War II-
The last of the Axis powers and the pact that formed one of the alliances.
Benito Mussolini's Fascism
Pact of Steel
For Fun-
Nerdily delving into space with an asteroid that gave us some brief panic, and a warp drive that uses hypothetical particles to move faster than light.
99942 Apophis
Alcubierre drive
Thank you for reading, wherever you may be.
Thursday, March 20, 2014
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Daily Reading 3/19/14
From Wikipedia-
In the News-
The search for a missing plane, and another that has never been found.
Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 2501
USS Kidd
World War II-
Continuing to examine the causes, weaknesses with the treaty that ended the previous war, and Emperor Hirohito of Japan.
The Treaty of Versailles
Hirohito
For Fun-
Examining the power of engineering and imagination.
Mega Structure
The Illinois
Thank You, for reading. Now onto more important things.
In the News-
The search for a missing plane, and another that has never been found.
Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 2501
USS Kidd
World War II-
Continuing to examine the causes, weaknesses with the treaty that ended the previous war, and Emperor Hirohito of Japan.
The Treaty of Versailles
Hirohito
For Fun-
Examining the power of engineering and imagination.
Mega Structure
The Illinois
Thank You, for reading. Now onto more important things.
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
Daily Reading 3/18/14
From Wikipedia-
Politics-
One of the few countries to still have an elected monarch.
Malaysia
Yang di-Pertuan Agong
World War II-
Starting at the beginning and reviewing the causes.
Weimar Republic
Hitler's Rise to Power
For Fun-
Two large radio observatories with a great history.
Arecibo Observatory
Very Large Array
Thank you for reading, you can now impress your friends with your newfound knowledge.
Politics-
One of the few countries to still have an elected monarch.
Malaysia
Yang di-Pertuan Agong
World War II-
Starting at the beginning and reviewing the causes.
Weimar Republic
Hitler's Rise to Power
For Fun-
Two large radio observatories with a great history.
Arecibo Observatory
Very Large Array
Thank you for reading, you can now impress your friends with your newfound knowledge.
Saturday, March 8, 2014
The GOP
Once Grand, Never Again
When I grew up in the South I idolized the GOP because my parents did. My dad was a hard working contractor who built his business from scratch, so of course his support is going trend red. I used to see the president and politicians in an almost aura-like state. Though I was young when Clinton was impeached I still was giddy with joy because he was a Democrat, and in the south you hate those Democrats.
I used to aspire to be a Republican, and fulfil my duty to vote for a just cause. I remember the first time I voted, the feeling of finally doing something meaningful. However, voting has never been that way since. I think it might have been because the church I vote at always managed to run out of voter stickers before I finished voting. What is the point of voting unless you can prove to your neighbors that you are as patriotic as they?
With my feelings of joy being replaced with apathy, I again gazed over the ballot, and again was disappointed that I had somehow let it come to this. We are told in school that every vote counts, but when faced with a choice between two people whom you did not and cannot support, your vote seems meaningless. It is a connection problem. The connection between the cause and the result. When I anonymously check a candidate, I do not see the end result immediately, and in this highly connected world, expediency is king.
Yes, if my guy wins I am rapturous, and rush to gloat. The caveat being that the opposite happens when my guy loses. Uncertainty of tomorrow, feelings of doubt, investment in rare earths, and the stockpiling mattress cash to name a few. That feeling passes eventually though, its half life equal to that of the first 90-100 days of the new presidency or congressional session. Afterwards life becomes normal again and I wait another two years for the rush and dissapointment.
This is where the problems begin in the space in between.
In between the primaries, the political push, and the overall election cycle, lies the swaying point. The point where if things are going great, the undecided public stays with their team, if things are going bad, all lifeboats set sail. This is where little stories become big ones out of pure boredom, and both parties are struggling for the American public to retain interest in the political system. This is why the Republican party is struggling.
They cannot manage this political gap effectively, and must rely on a passionate blitzkrieg to get the party rallied again in an election year. This constant stopping and stalling, complaining and whining, tires the public to a point of exhaustion. In the end, after each cycle, it takes more and more momentum, more rallying speeches, even a party convention to spark interest in the cause.
The aging party is slowly wearing itself out.
Looking tired to the young and hip democrats. The democrats who do not mind you skateboarding on the sidewalk outside their house. The democrats who will not bug you as much, you just sit back in relax, they'll take care of everything. Just get up on a Tuesday in November and vote blue, so you won't have to be!
Because the 1980s republicans are slowly becoming a distant memory, the next generation is coming along and the GOP is panicked because they are not voting Republican. The ideologues in the party are afraid to rethink their positions on core issues, and fail to see a generation that is fighting desperately to not become like their parents. The 33 year old single mother, the 33 year old occupy protester, the 33 year old unemployed. All of which see Republicans as a danger to their livelihood, and as a representation of their parents telling them what to do.
What is the worst thing I can do to upset my parents? Vote Democrat.
What upsets my mom more than anything that I will ever do? Not voting.
Voting is a point of pride in my family, public service even more. Why can't the GOP simply open up to more healthy debates that will fulfill both points of pride in my family? Why can't they invoke that same feeling when I was 18 and I was fulfilling my duty to the Nation?
Until they can recapture the spirit of the next generation, the republican party will go the way of the Whigs and become a mere footnote in American history.
When I grew up in the South I idolized the GOP because my parents did. My dad was a hard working contractor who built his business from scratch, so of course his support is going trend red. I used to see the president and politicians in an almost aura-like state. Though I was young when Clinton was impeached I still was giddy with joy because he was a Democrat, and in the south you hate those Democrats.
I used to aspire to be a Republican, and fulfil my duty to vote for a just cause. I remember the first time I voted, the feeling of finally doing something meaningful. However, voting has never been that way since. I think it might have been because the church I vote at always managed to run out of voter stickers before I finished voting. What is the point of voting unless you can prove to your neighbors that you are as patriotic as they?
With my feelings of joy being replaced with apathy, I again gazed over the ballot, and again was disappointed that I had somehow let it come to this. We are told in school that every vote counts, but when faced with a choice between two people whom you did not and cannot support, your vote seems meaningless. It is a connection problem. The connection between the cause and the result. When I anonymously check a candidate, I do not see the end result immediately, and in this highly connected world, expediency is king.
Yes, if my guy wins I am rapturous, and rush to gloat. The caveat being that the opposite happens when my guy loses. Uncertainty of tomorrow, feelings of doubt, investment in rare earths, and the stockpiling mattress cash to name a few. That feeling passes eventually though, its half life equal to that of the first 90-100 days of the new presidency or congressional session. Afterwards life becomes normal again and I wait another two years for the rush and dissapointment.
This is where the problems begin in the space in between.
In between the primaries, the political push, and the overall election cycle, lies the swaying point. The point where if things are going great, the undecided public stays with their team, if things are going bad, all lifeboats set sail. This is where little stories become big ones out of pure boredom, and both parties are struggling for the American public to retain interest in the political system. This is why the Republican party is struggling.
They cannot manage this political gap effectively, and must rely on a passionate blitzkrieg to get the party rallied again in an election year. This constant stopping and stalling, complaining and whining, tires the public to a point of exhaustion. In the end, after each cycle, it takes more and more momentum, more rallying speeches, even a party convention to spark interest in the cause.
The aging party is slowly wearing itself out.
Looking tired to the young and hip democrats. The democrats who do not mind you skateboarding on the sidewalk outside their house. The democrats who will not bug you as much, you just sit back in relax, they'll take care of everything. Just get up on a Tuesday in November and vote blue, so you won't have to be!
Because the 1980s republicans are slowly becoming a distant memory, the next generation is coming along and the GOP is panicked because they are not voting Republican. The ideologues in the party are afraid to rethink their positions on core issues, and fail to see a generation that is fighting desperately to not become like their parents. The 33 year old single mother, the 33 year old occupy protester, the 33 year old unemployed. All of which see Republicans as a danger to their livelihood, and as a representation of their parents telling them what to do.
What is the worst thing I can do to upset my parents? Vote Democrat.
What upsets my mom more than anything that I will ever do? Not voting.
Voting is a point of pride in my family, public service even more. Why can't the GOP simply open up to more healthy debates that will fulfill both points of pride in my family? Why can't they invoke that same feeling when I was 18 and I was fulfilling my duty to the Nation?
Until they can recapture the spirit of the next generation, the republican party will go the way of the Whigs and become a mere footnote in American history.
Daily Reading 3/8/14
From Wikipedia:
Politics:
The creator of the rockets that launched us into space- Wernher von Braun
The international determinant of the brink of global disaster- Doomsday Clock
WWII:
This day in WWII- Japanese Capture of Rangoon
Overall picture- South-East Asia theater
For Fun:
Stanley Kubrick's classic- Dr. Strangelove
An early supercomputer- IBM 7090
Politics:
The creator of the rockets that launched us into space- Wernher von Braun
The international determinant of the brink of global disaster- Doomsday Clock
WWII:
This day in WWII- Japanese Capture of Rangoon
Overall picture- South-East Asia theater
For Fun:
Stanley Kubrick's classic- Dr. Strangelove
An early supercomputer- IBM 7090
Monday, March 3, 2014
To Vladimir Vladmirovich Putin
Mr. Putin,
I am an American living in Georgia, but do not get your hopes up for you this is a Georgia you have not yet invaded. We have no real natural resources that you would covet, and no regions of majority Russian speaking people that you can claim control of. Our legislature is not merely a puppet for the policies of a president who wields totalitarian control.
I am writing to ask in one succinct word, why? Why do you feel the need to march into Ukraine and threaten the sovereign region who has been autonomous since 1995. Why do you feel the need to back a president who stole $70 billion from its people? Why is it compulsory for you to use your military might on a country that can barely defend itself?
In an era of geopolitical thought and the United Nations trying desperately year after year to maintain global peace, why do you feel the need to invade another country with such pretexts that mirror Hitler in its justifications?
Yes, surely you remember the invasion of Czechoslovakia? Hitler's justification was to protect the German speaking population of the region. How is this any different from what you are doing? Sure the comparison may seem extreme, but his actions soon plunged the world into War World II.
In these modern times do you really want another Cold War? Or perhaps that is your main goal, to revert back to the policy of the former USSR that you grew up in, a time that you secretly still crave. You see I still think you long for, (forgive the idiom) the good old days. The days where the party was apodictic in its actions, and its support by the people unwavering, or else! A time where you could make any dissent disappear overnight, non-persons erased from history sent to your infamous Gulags.
Mr. Putin, it is your people I feel the worst for, and the people of Ukraine. I have seen what the Russian power has done there in its recent history, and why you want the region for yourself. It is hard to forget, though you might consider it Western propaganda, that an estimated 10 million Ukrainians died of starvation when the USSR confiscated all of its grain in the 1930s.
You are a brilliant man, and no one can deny that, not even Western media. However, your continued intent to control the Ukrainian peoples, and the breadbasket of the former Soviet States can only harm the people involved. Please use reason, and do not let your ego influence your future decisions.
Sincerely,
Taylor Chandler
I am an American living in Georgia, but do not get your hopes up for you this is a Georgia you have not yet invaded. We have no real natural resources that you would covet, and no regions of majority Russian speaking people that you can claim control of. Our legislature is not merely a puppet for the policies of a president who wields totalitarian control.
I am writing to ask in one succinct word, why? Why do you feel the need to march into Ukraine and threaten the sovereign region who has been autonomous since 1995. Why do you feel the need to back a president who stole $70 billion from its people? Why is it compulsory for you to use your military might on a country that can barely defend itself?
In an era of geopolitical thought and the United Nations trying desperately year after year to maintain global peace, why do you feel the need to invade another country with such pretexts that mirror Hitler in its justifications?
Yes, surely you remember the invasion of Czechoslovakia? Hitler's justification was to protect the German speaking population of the region. How is this any different from what you are doing? Sure the comparison may seem extreme, but his actions soon plunged the world into War World II.
In these modern times do you really want another Cold War? Or perhaps that is your main goal, to revert back to the policy of the former USSR that you grew up in, a time that you secretly still crave. You see I still think you long for, (forgive the idiom) the good old days. The days where the party was apodictic in its actions, and its support by the people unwavering, or else! A time where you could make any dissent disappear overnight, non-persons erased from history sent to your infamous Gulags.
Mr. Putin, it is your people I feel the worst for, and the people of Ukraine. I have seen what the Russian power has done there in its recent history, and why you want the region for yourself. It is hard to forget, though you might consider it Western propaganda, that an estimated 10 million Ukrainians died of starvation when the USSR confiscated all of its grain in the 1930s.
You are a brilliant man, and no one can deny that, not even Western media. However, your continued intent to control the Ukrainian peoples, and the breadbasket of the former Soviet States can only harm the people involved. Please use reason, and do not let your ego influence your future decisions.
Sincerely,
Taylor Chandler
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