http://tspwiki.com/index.php?title=1570
Here are some one liners...
The First Modern Atlas: Finding Our Way in a Whole New World -- The way the human mind organizes data is changing in 1570 and today.
'Remember, Remember, the 5th of November'... Guy Fawkes and Occupy Wall Street -- Guy Fawkes is born today. I summarize why he is remembered, how he is perceived as a modern superhero today, and how the mask came into being.
Jimmy Stewart Takes the Bullet but No Grassy Knoll -- This is the first assassination by firearm... a carbine specifically.
The First Modern Atlas: Finding Our Way in a Whole New World
In the practical sense, the known world has become too large to create a useful map of it all on one page. In the past, larger maps were printed on separate sheets and joined together. This year the Flemish cartographer, Abraham Ortel, has taken those separate map sheets and bound them into book entitled "Theater of the World". This is the first modern atlas. It consists of 70 maps on 53 pages along with explanatory text. Copper sheets are custom-made for the printing press so that it can be mass produced. Four surviving copies can be found at the Library of Congress. [1] [2] [3]
My Take by Alex Shrugged
This atlas is evidence of an on-going change in thinking. The printing press allows anyone to retain a baseline of knowledge without using complex memorization techniques. On the way out are those stream-of-consciousness books that require the reader to consider the book as a whole. Now people can look things up. This frees up the mind to consider new ideas. Today, hardcopy books are on the way out, requiring the human mind to change again. Although we are losing our connection with the physical book with page numbers for reference, we have a search bar which accelerates the look-up process. It's the difference between finding our way using a paper map and asking our Smart Phone for directions. It's a whole new world. [4] [5] [6]
This atlas is evidence of an on-going change in thinking. The printing press allows anyone to retain a baseline of knowledge without using complex memorization techniques. On the way out are those stream-of-consciousness books that require the reader to consider the book as a whole. Now people can look things up. This frees up the mind to consider new ideas. Today, hardcopy books are on the way out, requiring the human mind to change again. Although we are losing our connection with the physical book with page numbers for reference, we have a search bar which accelerates the look-up process. It's the difference between finding our way using a paper map and asking our Smart Phone for directions. It's a whole new world. [4] [5] [6]
'Remember, Remember, the 5th of November'... Guy Fawkes and Occupy Wall Street
Guy Fawkes is born this year in York, England. He will grow steadily dissatisfied with the government and the ongoing religious conflict. In 1605 he will conspire with 12 others (13 total) to fill the basement of Westminster Palace with gunpowder. (It's not for killing the rats.) The authorities will charge him with treason and send him to the gallows. Unfortunately for the hangman's paycheck, Guy Fawkes will leap off of the platform and break his neck. Thereafter, the country will observe Guy Fawkes Day with bonfires, fireworks and burning an effigy of Guy Fawkes in a mask... otherwise known as "the Guy". It won't take long before Guy Fawkes Day becomes a time for burning effigies of religious and political figures. By 1982, Guy will become something of a superhero with his own DC Comic called "V for Vendetta" and a movie by the same name in 2005 starring Natalie Portman. [7] [8] [9]
My Take by Alex Shrugged
So what about the mask? DC Comics created the distinctive mask in the 1980s. The hacker group 'Anonymous' picked up on the symbol and so did the Occupy Wall Street protesters. I even saw someone wearing the mask during the Baltimore riots. The mask was made popular by the movie, "V for Vendetta". Guy Fawkes is portrayed as a Batman-like superhero fighting a fascist government. In the movie trailer, Guy paraphrases Thomas Jefferson saying, "People should not be afraid of their government. Government should be afraid of their people." It seems like the perfect movie for the TSP listener, but like the word "liberal," the symbol of the mask has come to mean: government over private enterprise. In some cases Libertarian ideals overlap with the Occupy Wall Street movement, but the overall goal of 'Occupy' seems to be getting government to force private industry to do the bidding of government. That is fascism, plain and simple. [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18]
So what about the mask? DC Comics created the distinctive mask in the 1980s. The hacker group 'Anonymous' picked up on the symbol and so did the Occupy Wall Street protesters. I even saw someone wearing the mask during the Baltimore riots. The mask was made popular by the movie, "V for Vendetta". Guy Fawkes is portrayed as a Batman-like superhero fighting a fascist government. In the movie trailer, Guy paraphrases Thomas Jefferson saying, "People should not be afraid of their government. Government should be afraid of their people." It seems like the perfect movie for the TSP listener, but like the word "liberal," the symbol of the mask has come to mean: government over private enterprise. In some cases Libertarian ideals overlap with the Occupy Wall Street movement, but the overall goal of 'Occupy' seems to be getting government to force private industry to do the bidding of government. That is fascism, plain and simple. [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18]
Jimmy Stewart Takes the Bullet but No Grassy Knoll
Assassination by firearm makes its debut. The target is James Stewart, the Earl of Moray and more importantly, the Regent for the infant King of Scotland. The Earl and the Hamiltons have been embroiled in a bitter feud. The Hamiltons supported Mary, Queen of Scots, in her fight for the Scottish throne, but when she went south, into the hands of Queen Elizabeth the 1st, the options for the Hamiltons narrowed considerable. The Earl has them on the ropes and all seems lost until the Earl transits through town with his troops. As the Earl passes the Hamilton residence, James Hamilton appears in the window and uses his carbine to shoot the Earl dead in the street. (No second shooter on the grassy knoll.) Hamilton escapes. Since the Earl was not in the midst of battle, and since he was also the Regent of the King, this counts as an assassination... the first with a gun. It had to start somewhere. [19] [20] [21] [22]
My Take by Alex Shrugged
In the 1500s, the reasons for conflict were a mixture of the religious and the secular. In fact, I doubt the people of the time would make a distinction between the two. There remained lingering beliefs in the virtue of trial-by-combat... as if the winner was judged worthy by Heaven. That may explain why the religious were fighting so hard for their separate causes. Losing a fight was like a criticism of their ultimate goals. Social Darwinists use a similar argument but in the secular sense. Survival of the fittest means that if I can beat you up and take all of your stuff, it's because I'm stronger and better suited to use your stuff than you are. Have a nice day.
In the 1500s, the reasons for conflict were a mixture of the religious and the secular. In fact, I doubt the people of the time would make a distinction between the two. There remained lingering beliefs in the virtue of trial-by-combat... as if the winner was judged worthy by Heaven. That may explain why the religious were fighting so hard for their separate causes. Losing a fight was like a criticism of their ultimate goals. Social Darwinists use a similar argument but in the secular sense. Survival of the fittest means that if I can beat you up and take all of your stuff, it's because I'm stronger and better suited to use your stuff than you are. Have a nice day.
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