For centuries European seafarers have been looking for a short, safe way to sail merchant ships to Asian ports in order to capitalize on the lucrative trade possibilities. The North and South American continents soon had their own trading possibilities, but to get to the big prize, these continents had to be circumnavigated. To sail […]
THE STORY OF THE PANAMA CANAL Read More »
The year 2023 has officially become the hottest year on record, and it is worth taking a look at how the greenhouse effect and the growth of population and fossil fuel consumption in particular has contributed to where we are today with global warming. Origins: The study of climate change dates as far back as
CLIMATE CHANGE DEVELOPMENTS SINCE 1824 Read More »
In September of 1973, the Chilean Army marched on the Presidential Palace in Santiago and ousted the popularly elected socialist president, Salvador Allende. What followed was brutal repression, murder and torture, as General Augusto Pinochet seized control and ruled with an iron fist for the next seventeen years. At the time democracy was lost in
THE 1973 COUP IN CHILE–FIFTY YEARS AFTER Read More »
Every year on July 4th, this country celebrates its independence from Great Britain. It took a long war to achieve this end, but the events that led up to the Declaration of Independence provide an interesting story in their own right. The Seven Years War, Ending February 10, 1763: From 1756 to 1763 the British
THE TIMELINE OF EVENTS TO AMERICA’S INDEPENDENCE DAY Read More »
When the first week of June as it relates to World War II is mentioned, most of the time the reference is to the D-Day Invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944. This event was arguably the most significant event in the European Theater of the war. But an equally important event took place June
HOW THE BATTLE OF MIDWAY WAS WON Read More »
In March, 2022, a few weeks after Russia invaded neighboring Ukraine, Western countries began sanctioning the Russian economy. The sanctions were designed to hurt the Russian war machine and provide “severe and lasting economic costs” to the Russian population. A year after the initial impact of the sanctions, the Russian economy has not been crippled,
IS RUSSIA’S WARTIME EFFORT SUSTAINABLE? Read More »
In 1877, France colonized the land in southeast Asia now known as Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. With this occupation came Catholicism, Western Culture, and some economic growth and industrialization. It also brought about a movement of groups of the local population to seek a removal of these Western influences. Here is a timeline of pertinent
A TIMELINE OF EVENTS THAT MARKED THE VIETNAM WAR Read More »
Is inflation over? Will interest rates be coming down soon? Some economists reading their stat sheets and perhaps their tea leaves are pointing to future trends that will be bringing inflation in many of the G7 countries under control by the end of the year. However, central bankers have thrown a damp towel over investor
INFLATION AND HIGH INTEREST RATES MAY BE HERE FOR A WHILE Read More »
Recent headlines have pointed to the apparent use of espionage balloons by the Chinese over U.S. airspace. Other parts of the world, including Latin America and China itself, have reported sightings of high-flying balloons drifting over their airspace. All these balloons may or may not have been involved with espionage, but they did demonstrate the
WHO WERE THE FIRST TO USE BALLOONS FOR ESPIONAGE? Read More »
Ukraine has a secret weapon in its war with Russia. Only it’s not the firepower we’ve seen donated to them from NATO countries. And it comes courtesy of an unlikely source—Elon Musk’s SpaceX. It’s in the form of an off-grid high-bandwidth internet network named Starlink. It services consumers in 45 countries with as many as
UKRAINE’S SECRET WEAPON Read More »