Life-Long Learning Archives - Renaissance Granddad

Mind Archive by category "Life-Long Learning"

Political and Musical : Two Things Learned!

As I write and read about political and musical matters I am always learning something new. Here are two things I just learned about at 72! What counting slaves as 3/5 of a person in the Constitution really meant! The first political thing I learned came via the book Tyranny of the Minority by Steven Livitsky and Daniel Ziblatt.. I just finished the book.a few days ago. It’s really a terrific read. It’s a book anyone who’s concerned about the future of our country should read. I’ll write more about it later, However, now I just want to discuss what counting slaves as 3/5 of a person really accomplished for the southern states. It’s the first time anyone really explained the effect of that action to me! The counting of slaves as 3/5 of a person meant that for every 5 slaves a plantain owner had they counted as three people for representation in the House of Representatives. As a result even though New York had a larger white population than Virginia, when you added the slave population in Virginia to their total they received a larger number of representatives! Overall the net effect is that the southern states representation was 25% greater than the more populated Northern states. So once again Southern states benefited from owning slaves, while the slaves suffered! And yes Southerners should feel guilt about that! The Alabama Song (Whiskey Bar) by the Doors Came From Where? The musical thing I learned was the origin of The…

Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America…

If You Want to Understand the Roots of Our Current Political Situation – Read this Book! Over the last few weeks I am finding it more and more difficult to post. Again I haven’t stopped reading, listening or exercising just that when I sit down to write a post, I get distracted and pick up a book or good do something else. Anyway I just finished book 9 of 2017. The following read though is for book 7. Hopefully, if I can get myself focused and motivated reviews for book 8 Parting Shot by Linwood Barclay and book 9 Descent by Tim Johnston, will follow shortly. Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America by Nancy MacLean. This is the story of the Radical Rights campaign to steal our democracy. The blueprint for the campaign was laid out but conservative economist James Buchanan. Buchanan merged states rights thinking with free-market principles and laid the groundwork for the “makers”and “takers” philosophy of today’s Republican party. The campaign has been funded by Charles Koch and is bearing fruit beyond his wildest dreams. The Radical Right has goals like establishing and assuring minority rule, the elimination of both the government safety nets i.e. Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid and programs and agencies that protect our health and safety. They seem like current GOP goals to me. And I am scared for my country! Throughout the last year we have seen time after time the majority of Americans opposing what…

Finding Gobi – Dion Leonard – A Wonderful Tale

Finding Gobi: The true story of a little dog and an incredible journey – Dion Leonard Dion Leonard’s Finding Gobi is the typical boy finds dog, boy loses dog, boy searches for dog, ultimately finds him and brings him home. Only the boy is an ultra- marathoner who races in some of the most grueling races around the globe. And it was at one of those races that Leonard found Gobi. The race was a grueling seven-day 155 mile run that crosses the China’s Gobi Desert. Gobi and Dion Leonard Meet Actually, I guess it’s more correct to say Gobi found Leonard. That’s because at the start of the initial stage of the race, little Gobi started attacking The shoe covers Leonard had on his running shoes. The covers were in place because during the first part of the race, the runners would be going up a sand dune! Anyway, as the race started Gobi started running too and stayed by Leonard’s side through the whole 26.2 miles! That night Gobi slept in Leonard’s tent. The following morning Leonard and Gobi set off again on the next leg of the race. All and all Gobi stayed by Leonard’s side through three marathons! Of course there were a couple of times that Dion had to carry Gobi. When it came to cross the scorching black sands of the desert, which was virtually devoid of life, Leonard knew that he could risk allowing Gobi to run. So Gobi moved ahead with the…

The Winter Fortress – How Nine Norwegians Saved the World!!

The Winter Fortress: The Epic Mission to Sabotage Hitler’s Atomic Bomb – Neal Bascomb The Winter Fortress recounts the tale of the 1942 sabotage of the Vemork hydroelectric plant in Norway. The plant was one of the few places in the world that produced heavy water. Nazi Germany wanted all the heavy water that Norway could produce.. Heavy water was a key element for the production of an atomic bomb. I never had really heard of the mission before reading the book, but now I feel that I lived through it! Bascomb did a great job researching and writing The Winter Fortress, The book reads more like an action novel than a work of non-fiction. The Story By 1942 Norway was and the Vemork hydroelectric plant were under the control of Nazi Germany. The Vemork hydroelectric plant was producing heavy water that was headed to German researchers. Researchers who were researching nuclear fission, which ultimately could be used in the creation of an atomic bomb Aware of this research, the Allies knew that something had to be done. The Norwegians felt that an air attack would actually miss the parts of the plant that need to be destroyed. What would be required was a commando attack on the facility. The Winter Fortress tells the story of the brave Norwegian resistance fighters. Several of these fighters escaped to England. They were trained in England, and reinserted back into Norway. Where they fought bravely for their homeland. During the months leading up to the attack the fighters…

The Hunt for the First Terrorist Cell in the US in 1915!

Dark Invasion:1915: Germany’s Secret War & the Hunt for the First Terrorist Cell in America – Howard Blum The Beginning of World War I The hunt for the first terrorist cell in the United States had its beginnings on June 28, 1914 when….. Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian throne, and his wife, visit Sarajevo in Bosnia. A bomb is thrown at their auto but misses. Undaunted, they continue their visit only to be shot and killed a short time later by a lone assassin. Believing the assassin to be a Serbian nationalist, the Austrians target their anger toward Serbia That began the march towards World War I. In the subsequent month Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia,on July 28th. That was followed by Germany declaring war on Russia on August 1st. On August 3rd Germany declared war on France and invaded neutral Belgium. After Germany ignored Great Britain’s ultimatum to withdraw from Belgium. Great Britain declared war on Germany on August 4th and the United States declared its neutrality. Dark Invasion:1915: Germany’s Secret War & the Hunt for the First Terrorist Cell in America As the war progressed the United States maintained its neutrality, but was selling supplies and ammunition to the Allies. In 1915 the German ambassador to the US is instructed to find and finance a team of undercover saboteurs who can disrupt this flow of supplies to the Allies and potentially keep America out of the war. The results of those orders were terrorist attacks on…

Classical Music mourns the loss of Einojuhani Rautavaara

Einojuhani Rautavaara – Finnish Composer (9 October 1928 – 27 July 2016) This morning I was at Wikipedia reviewing the events that happened on this date in history. However, before I got a chance to due that, I spotted a name on the list of those who have recently passed away that was interesting. The name was Einojuhani Rautavaara. The name was interesting because a) I was unfamiliar with the name and b) I was intrigued by the foreign nature of the name. Since I am always interested in explorations of people and places beyond my country’s borders, I clicked on the name to find out more about Einojuhani Rautavaara. I discovered that Rautavaara. was a Finnish composer of classical music considered to be the second most notable Finnish composer behind Jean Sibelius.From Wikipedia. Rautavaara wrote a great number of works spanning various styles. Having written early works using 12-tone serial techniques, his later music may be described as neo-romantic and mystical. His major works include Cantus Arcticus and Symphony No. 7 “Angel of Light Rautavaara was born to 1928 in Helsinki. His parents were Eino and his mother Elsa were an opera singer and cantor and doctor respectively. Both of his parents died before he reached the age of 16. After their deaths he live with his his aunt Hilja Teräskeli in a Helsinki suburb He graduated for the Sibelius Academy in 1957.. While at the Academy he studied under Aarre Merikanto from 1948 to 1952. In 1954 he received international attention, when he won the…

Charles Messier catalogs M37 on Jan 31,1779

RGranddad explores the astronomer Charles Messier and his catalog….. Over the last few days I have added a boatload of ancestors of my fifth great-grandfather Samuel Johnson and his wife Antje Anney Brower I have taken both of their family lines back to the early 1600s in New York. Anyway, as I was looking over events that happened on January 31st this one from 1779. Samuel would have turned 19 that year. The event was Charles Messier’s addition of M57 (Ring Nebula in Lyra) to his catalog. Since I didn’t know who Charles Messier was or what his catalog was I set out to find out about them! (P.S. I do know what a ring nebula is). I am always amazed at what the early astronomers were able to accomplish 300 plus years ago!) From Wikipedia….. Charles Messier ( 26 June 1730 – 12 April 1817) was a French astronomer most notable for publishing an astronomical catalogue consisting of nebulae and star clusters that came to be known as the 110 “Messier objects”. The purpose of the catalogue was to help astronomical observers, in particular comet hunters such as himself, distinguish between permanent and transient visually diffuse objects in the sky. As for the catalog….. ….The final version of the catalogue was published in 1781, in the 1784 issue of Connaissance des Temps.[5][6] The final list of Messier objects had grown to 103. On several occasions between 1921 and 1966, astronomers and historians discovered evidence of another seven objects that…

A SIxties Man Rants About Missing Art of Compromise!

Reading In Retrospect leads to thoughts about Government and Compromise So I have not ever been a fan of former Defense Secretary Robert McNamara, The obvious reason, he was Defense Secretary, at the beginning and the height of the war in Vietnam, in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. But as I read his autobiography In Retrospect The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam, I realize that the administrations that he served in were really in a no-win situation in Vietnam, and that he and others may have kept the US from being involved in the war far earlier. He also admits that the course the US chose concerning the war was the wrong one! At one point, he reveals for the first time what he thought John Kennedy would have done regarding the situation in Vietnam .. ….I think that it highly probable that , had President Kennedy lived , he would have pulled us out of Vietnam. He would have concluded that the South Vietnamese were incapable of defending themselves and that Saigon’s grave political weaknesses made it unwise to try to offset the limitations of the South Vietnamese forces by sending U.S. combat troops on a large scale…..(In Retrospect page 96) From what I have read so far in both this book and The Politics of Deception, i believe he may well be right! Damn you, Lee Harvey Oswald!! Anyway, this morning I read a passage in the book, that really hit home and speaks directly to the…