Category Archives: History

Vote Robin Hood

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Hmmm . . . I was going to say, “No comment” . . . Seriously folks, Robin Hood’s not running this year . . . But, if the winner-take-all economy continues . . . and rich patriots continue to accumulate all the money . . . and stash their wealth in the Cayman Islands and Swiss bank accounts . . . Well, Robin Hood might begin to seem like a good idea. 

Robin Hood and Maid Marian (poster, ca. 1880)

ROBIN HOOD AND MAID MARIAN (poster, ca. 1880) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Robin Hood is the English folk hero who fascinates the creative imagination. His popularity never wanes. Let’s see, at least eight films, according to Wikipedia. Also, some television shows on BBC, at least one music album, and two computer games.

Robin Hood. Hold that thought. It’s something to stash away for some future election . . . if they still allow elections in the future.

— John Hayden

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Hurricane Sandy: Worcester County, MD, Warns of “Historic Flooding”

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No one here is taking Hurricane Sandy lightly. The town of Ocean City and Worcester County, which is Maryland’s only oceanfront county, have ordered limited partial evacuations. Good thing the summer tourist season is over, or there’d be a lot more people to evacuate. For specifics, see the Ocean City Blog, AKA Maryland On My Mind.

A prolonged siege of rain, high wind, and flooding is expected. It’s raining now (1:30 p.m. Sunday afternoon), with some very localized flooding already. But the worst is not expected until Monday afternoon and Monday night.     Continue reading →

Hurricane Sandy — Ready or Not, Here She Comes

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Hurricane Irene

Be advised that a hurricane named Sandy is swirling off the coast of Florida and heading north. Sandy will bypass Florida and probably the Carolinas as it follows a north-northeast curve.

Halfway up the coast, Sandy is expected to turn left and take aim straight into the densely populated East Coast of the U.S. Broadcasters and headline writers are  trampling each other in their rush to label Sandy “the perfect storm.”    Continue reading →

Nations, City-States And Corporations In The New World Economy

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Can Scotland separate from Great Britain? 

The age of empires is long since over. The Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, the British Empire are history.

Can it be possible that cohesive nations are on the brink of extinction, sort of slow-moving dinosaurs not well adapted to survive in the hyper-fast digital age and the internationalized economy?

NPR News reports today that Scotland will hold a referendum in two years, with the approval of Great Britain. Who knows what the voters will decide?

Large federations covering vast land masses are subject to powerful Centrifugal forces.    Continue reading →

Power In A Box: Cannon Power Shot SX160

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CANNON POWER SHOT SX 160 — WHENEVER I’M BUYING NEW TECHNOLOGY, I ALWAYS WONDER: “DOES EVERYTHING I NEED COME IN THE BOX?” IN THIS CASE ‘YES,’ ALTHOUGH A PROTECTIVE CARRYING CASE WOULD BE A NICE ADDITION.

You want to know what an obsolete bachelor’s degree  feels like? Long time ago, as part of my journalism major at University of Maryland, I took a class on news photography. Although 135 mm film and Single Lens Reflex (SLR) cameras were state of the art in the 1960s, the journalism class provided us with older Yashika Mat cameras.

Today, I unboxed the very latest Canon digital camera. It can make an amateur photographer like me feel like a pro! Photography has come a long, long, way since I took that class.

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Washington Nationals and Baltimore Orioles — Maybe Next Year

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Unbelievable!

Wouldn’t you know it, my Friday-afternoon  post speculating on an I-95 World Series was the kiss of death for the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals. Before the night was over, BOTH teams were eliminated from the 2012 pennant chase, the O’s in the American League and the Nats in the National League.

A short post on my humble blog has the same power to jinx as a Sports Illustrated cover story? Who’d ‘a thunk it?

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Baseball History Made In Washington (More Photos from Nationals Park)

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Welcome to the latest chapter in the long history of baseball in the Nation’s Capital.

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Baseball History in Washington — I-95 World Series Possible

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I-95 World Series Possible! — The Baltimore Orioles play the New York Yankees today (Friday) at 5 p.m. in the Bronx. And the Washington Nationals play the St. Louis Cardinals tonight, starting at 8:37 p.m. at the new Nationals Park in Southeast Washington. Both contests are the fifth and deciding games in their playoff series.

If both the Orioles and Nationals win, it would set the stage for a possible first-ever World Series between the neighboring cities of Baltimore and Washington.

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Baseball History Made in Washington (National League Playoffs 2012)

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It only happens about once a century: A Washington baseball team representing the Nation’s Capital playing in the postseason! Last time was in 1933, when each league had eight teams, and the Washington Senators played in the World Series. Now baseball has expanded to many more cities, and two rounds of postseason playoffs lead up to the World Series.

The Washington Nationals in the field, the St. Louis Cardinals at bat, view of the field from the nosebleed seats on the third-base side of Nationals Park, one of America’s great new ballparks.

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A Brief History of (Re)Distribution

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(Re)distribution.

Mitt Romney is willing to go straight to the heart of issues that politicians usually avoid. Whether you agree or disagree with him, he’s helping us understand.

Economics is the study of the distribution of scarce resources. (I think that’s a valid statement.)

Isn’t it always about distribution?

Isn’t all of history about distribution? The distribution of scarce resources, of wealth, of power. Who owns what? Who has a right to what?

Aren’t most wars fought to redistribute land, wealth, and power? Land and the resources on or under the land are the fundamental scarce resources.

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