Clipmarks | ratilfar's 'history' clips

An American adventurer's death in El Salvador

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 12:24:10 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar

Photos: Joe Sanderson: a life in...

PERQUIN, EL SALVADOR -- Joe Sanderson left his Midwestern hometown in his 20s with a backpack, a notepad and a dream of being a writer.

Starting in the mid-1960s, he crossed the Pacific on a freighter, climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, and kept going, for two decades in all, traipsing across more than 60 countries. Everywhere he went, he kept a diary and wrote to Mom and Dad back home in Urbana, Ill.

Shortly after arriving in this Central American country in 1979, Sanderson pulled off his most audacious feat yet: He joined a guerrilla army.

Joe Sanderson is one of two Americans known to have fought and died with the guerrillas of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front, the leftist rebels whose war against El Salvador's U.S.-backed military junta was one of the last conflicts of the Cold War.

Rescued from the battlefield by a rebel historian, Sanderson's 330-page diary and other writings lay neglected and unread for decades.

Tags: war, adventure, el salvador, 80s, history

Ancient Greek "Computer" Deciphered

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 21:59:00 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar

Clip Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

The Antikythera Mechanism, sometimes called the first analog computer, was recovered more than a century ago in the wreckage of a ship that sank off the tiny island of Antikythera, north of Crete. Earlier research showed that the device was probably built between 140 and 100 B.C.

Only now, applying high-resolution imaging systems and three-dimensional X-ray tomography, have experts been able to decipher inscriptions and reconstruct functions of the bronze gears on the mechanism. The latest research has revealed details of dials on the instrument's back side, including the names of all 12 months of an ancient calendar.

In the journal report, the team led by the mathematician and filmmaker Tony Freeth of the Antikythera Mechanism Research Project, in Cardiff, Wales, said the month names "are unexpectedly of Corinthian origin," which suggested "a heritage going back to Archimedes."

Tags: history, computers, science, ancient history, ar

Washington's War: From Independence to Iraq: an interview

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 03:49:37 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar
clipper's remarks: Great stuff here!

Clip Source: www.davidphinney.com

[Video]

Tags: war, u.s., history, iraq, conquest, empire

A Brief History of Gasoline Consumption in America

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 19:17:54 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar
clipper's remarks: What is old is new again?

Clip Source: www.salon.com

Tags: the modern world, funnies, toons, comic, political satire

Portrait of Courage: Irena Sendler

Tue, 13 May 2008 16:43:17 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar
clipper's remarks: From the article:

"In 1943, she was captured by the Nazis and tortured but refused to tell her captors who her co-conspirators were or where the bottles were buried. She also resisted in other ways. According to Felt, when Sendler worked in the prison laundry, she and her co-workers made holes in the German soldiers' underwear. When the officers discovered what they had done, they lined up all the women and shot every other one. It was just one of many close calls for Sendler."

Clip Source: www.latimes.com

Fate may have led Irena Sendler to the moment almost 70 years ago when she began to risk her life for the children of strangers. But for this humble Polish Catholic social worker, who was barely 30 when one of history's most nightmarish chapters unfolded before her, the pivotal influence was something her parents had drummed into her.

"I was taught that if you see a person drowning," she said, "you must jump into the water to save them, whether you can swim or not."

Irena Sendler

When the Nazis occupying Poland began rounding up Jews in 1940 and sending them to the Warsaw ghetto, Sendler plunged in.

With daring and ingenuity, she saved the lives of more than 2,500 Jews, most of them children, a feat that went largely unrecognized until the last years of her life.

The lesson Sendler taught them was that "one person can make a difference," Megan Felt, one of the authors of the play, said Monday.

Tags: courage, truth, compasion, history

Propellerheads - History Repeating

Fri, 09 May 2008 02:54:24 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar

Clip Source: youtube.com

[Video]

Tags: jazz, acid jazz, properllerheads, 90s, video, music video, you tube

History Repeating:McNAMARA ON BOMBING THE NORTH

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 02:43:04 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar
clipper's remarks: Both in the words used then and the attitude of the Press. I mean:

"In an evenhanded report on the air campaign against North Viet Nam,"

Hell even McNamara would not agree with that these days!

Clip Source: www.time.com

In an evenhanded report on the air campaign against North Viet Nam, Defense Secretary Robert McNamara last week provided the Senate's Preparedness Subcommittee with a wealth of information that has never before been made public—and some sober conclusions unlikely to encourage either the hawks who would drastically escalate the bombing of the North, or the doves who would end the bombing entirely. Among the highlights:

Infiltration has indeed been made costly and difficult for the North Vietnamese. From January through July of this year, said the Defense Secretary, U.S. fighter-bombers averaged 13,000 sorties a month over the North —75% of them directed against lines of communication and goods moving over them. "In addition, we have struck approximately 1,900 fixed targets in North Viet Nam, including 57 bridges, 50 major railyards, troop barracks, petroleum storage tanks and power plants."

Tags: war, lies, news, old is new again, history, history repeating

The 13 best electronic versions of Dungeons & Dragons

Fri, 21 Mar 2008 01:14:03 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar

Clip Source: dvice.com

1980: Dungeons & Dragons Computer Labyrinth Game

1981: Mattel's Dungeons and Dragons

[Video]

1983: Advanced Dungeons and Dragons: Treasure of Tarmin

1987: Dungeons & Dragons Pinball

1988: Dungeons and Dragons: Pool of Radiance

1996: Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow Over Mystara

2004: Tabletop Projection fan setup

2006: Bringing D&D to Second Life

2006: Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach

And beyond!

Tags: dnd, dragons, rpgs, games, history

African-American Anger...Nah, Really?

Thu, 20 Mar 2008 15:50:12 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar

Clip Source: static.crooksandliars.com

Tags: race, america, u.s., race relations, anger, history, truth

This is the face of courage.

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 22:04:28 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar
clipper's remarks: Score one for the new Australian goverment!

Clip Source: tenpercent.wordpress.com

Today we honour the Indigenous peoples of this land, the oldest continuing cultures in human history.

We reflect on their past mistreatment.

We reflect in particular on the mistreatment of those who were Stolen Generations – this blemished chapter in our nation’s history.

The time has now come for the nation to turn a new page in Australia’s history by righting the wrongs of the past and so moving forward with confidence to the future.

We apologise for the laws and policies of successive Parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians.

We apologise especially for the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, their communities and their country.

For the pain, suffering and hurt of these Stolen Generations, their descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry.

And for the indignity and degradation thus inflicted on a proud people and a proud culture, we say sorry.

Tags: australia, truth, reconciliation, natives, aborigines, history, healing

An Uneducated Electorate Promotes Democracy Lost

Tue, 29 Jan 2008 19:06:50 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar

Clip Source: www.youtube.com

[Video]

Tags: democracy, u.s., history, lesson

Waving Goodbye to (U.S.) Hegemony: About Damn Time!

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 15:11:34 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar
clipper's remarks: From the article:

"It is 2016, and the Hillary Clinton or John McCain or Barack Obama administration is nearing the end of its second term. America has pulled out of Iraq but has about 20,000 troops in the independent state of Kurdistan, as well as warships anchored at Bahrain and an Air Force presence in Qatar. Afghanistan is stable; Iran is nuclear. China has absorbed Taiwan and is steadily increasing its naval presence around the Pacific Rim and, from the Pakistani port of Gwadar, on the Arabian Sea. The European Union has expanded to well over 30 members and has secure oil and gas flows from North Africa, Russia and the Caspian Sea, as well as substantial nuclear energy. America’s standing in the world remains in steady decline."

Clip Source: bagnewsnotes.typepad.com

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Turn on the TV today, and you could be forgiven for thinking it’s 1999. Democrats and Republicans are bickering about where and how to intervene, whether to do it alone or with allies and what kind of world America should lead. Democrats believe they can hit a reset button, and Republicans believe muscular moralism is the way to go. It’s as if the first decade of the 21st century didn’t happen — and almost as if history itself doesn’t happen. But the distribution of power in the world has fundamentally altered over the two presidential terms of George W. Bush, both because of his policies and, more significant, despite them. Maybe the best way to understand how quickly history happens is to look just a bit ahead.

Tags: empire, u.s., hegemony, collapse, world, politics

WW1 - History and Propaganda Posters

Sat, 22 Dec 2007 17:24:50 GMT

clipped by: Socratoad
clipper's remarks: Fascinating material from the war to end all wars.

Alas it appears there has been and continues to be wars and rumors of wars .... : Man the irrational animal.

Clip Source: www.firstworldwar.com

Propaganda Posters

Each of the nations which participated in World War One from 1914-18 used propaganda posters not only as a means of justifying involvement to their own populace, but also as a means of procuring men, money and resources to sustain the military campaign.

The History of Oil - Robert Newman

Sat, 10 Nov 2007 08:33:06 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar
clipper's remarks: A must see.

Clip Source: video.google.com

[Video]

Tags: oil, war, war on terror, u.s. funny

Great Science Podcasts from The Royal Society

Wed, 07 Nov 2007 15:58:56 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: www.royalsoc.ac.uk

The Royal Society in your pocket

Download individual Podcasts

Enhanced audio & graphics Podcast available on both RSS feeds

Audio only

Exchanges in science and religion
Hot topics: science policy and the history of climate change science
Lisa Jardine in conversation with Michael Frayn
Bill Bryson - A short history of nearly everything
Rt Hon Alan Johnson MP's speech at 'celebrating British Science' event.
Lord May's Anniversary Address 2005

Video

Lord May's Anniversary Address 2005 (iPod Video M4V)

Tags: science, royal society, podcasts

Clipmarks | ratilfar's 'history' clips

An American adventurer's death in El Salvador

Photos: Joe Sanderson: a life in...

Ancient Greek "Computer" Deciphered

Washington's War: From Independence to Iraq: an interview

A Brief History of Gasoline Consumption in America

Portrait of Courage: Irena Sendler

Propellerheads - History Repeating

History Repeating:McNAMARA ON BOMBING THE NORTH

The 13 best electronic versions of Dungeons & Dragons

African-American Anger...Nah, Really?

This is the face of courage.

An Uneducated Electorate Promotes Democracy Lost

Waving Goodbye to (U.S.) Hegemony: About Damn Time!

WW1 - History and Propaganda Posters

The History of Oil - Robert Newman

Great Science Podcasts from The Royal Society

The Royal Society in your pocket

Download individual Podcasts