http://tspwiki.com/index.php?title=1635
Here are some one liners...
30 Years' War: Religion vs Nationalism -- It seems that nationalism outweighs religion in this fight for survival. I talk about a possible confrontation between Israel and the USA and wonder if religious oaths will outweigh national ones.
Japan Enforces Its Borders with the Death Penalty -- I talk about Donald Trump's idea of a border fence with a "beautiful door." I'm not sure if he is serious but I discuss the idea seriously.
Alex Haley's Roots: John Waller Comes to Virginia -- It's a novel but this is a fact. John Waller really did arrive in Virginia at this time. I talk a little about the novelization of Ronald Reagan's biography.
30 Years' War: Religion vs Nationalism
This is no longer a religious war. France's plan to weaken the Holy Roman Emperor by backing a Protestant army is now in tatters. The Swedish army as an invasion force has been doing a credible job even after the death of Swedish King Gustav the 2nd. Luckily for France, Emperor Ferdinand the 2nd had his best General, Albrecht von Wallenstein, assassinated last year for having too big of an ego and acting unilaterally. A general with too much of an ego tends to make the civil leadership nervous. (President Truman fired General MacArthur for something similar.) Emperor Ferdinand the 2nd has rescinded the Edict of Restitution and ends the German civil war. With a (more or less) unified Germany, France is in real trouble. It is surrounded by a powerful Emperor in Vienna and the King of Spain in the south. Both are from the House of Habsburg. France is from the House of Bourbon so France declares war against Spain. The 30 Years' War has become a fight between nations. The fact that the nations are all Catholic is meaningless. Millions will die just the same. [1] [2] [3] [4]
My Take by Alex Shrugged
Once the Emperor stopped confiscating Protestant property, the major religious objection was removed. That left a whole lot of Swedish Protestant soldiers tromping around Germany looking more like an invasion force than a rescue force. Nationalism trumps religion... sort of. Christianity is sometimes called "Christendom" in an attempt to appeal to Christians as a cross-national kingdom. (Sorry for the pun.) That sort of appeal worked during the Crusades, and Hitler made that appeal work. He equated being a good Lutheran with being a good German citizen. It gets confusing when nationhood is mixed up with religious identity. What will happen when Israeli bombers head for Iran and the US President decides to defend Iran? Will a US fighter pilot's religious oath take precedence over his or her national oath? We won't know until it happens. [5]
Once the Emperor stopped confiscating Protestant property, the major religious objection was removed. That left a whole lot of Swedish Protestant soldiers tromping around Germany looking more like an invasion force than a rescue force. Nationalism trumps religion... sort of. Christianity is sometimes called "Christendom" in an attempt to appeal to Christians as a cross-national kingdom. (Sorry for the pun.) That sort of appeal worked during the Crusades, and Hitler made that appeal work. He equated being a good Lutheran with being a good German citizen. It gets confusing when nationhood is mixed up with religious identity. What will happen when Israeli bombers head for Iran and the US President decides to defend Iran? Will a US fighter pilot's religious oath take precedence over his or her national oath? We won't know until it happens. [5]
Japan Enforces Its Borders with the Death Penalty
Japan has been tightening up on its border restrictions for years but now its getting serious. Nobody in or out. Any Japanese national who leaves the country is subject to the death penalty. Europeans who attempt to enter Japanese territories are subject to the death penalty. Christianity is banned. Pictures of Jesus and Mary are placed on the floor and suspected Christians are forced to walk over them. Any hesitation means you are punished severely. Trade with the outside world is restricted to Nagasaki and only with the Chinese and the Dutch. Border enforcement will continue until 1853 when Commodore Perry will show up. He will turn his guns toward shore and fire in celebration of the 4th of July. The shots will be blanks but the Japanese will get the message loud and clear. [6] [7]
My Take by Alex Shrugged
During the recent debates (August 2015) Donald Trump suggested building a border fence with "a beautiful door!" OK. I'm not a Trump supporter, but I've been advocating the same thing for years now. If you have a reasonably efficient official gateway into the country, then good people will use the gate. Give them a medical exam, a felony check, a dictionary and a Bible, Anyone who doesn't use the gateway is bad because there is no reason to walk across rattlesnake infested badlands if the gate is open. People who mean me no harm come through the front gate. If you are climbing over the fence when the gate is open, I assume something is wrong... with you. The first step in border enforcement is to separate the sheep from the goats. An efficient gateway does that along with a solid fence. [8]
During the recent debates (August 2015) Donald Trump suggested building a border fence with "a beautiful door!" OK. I'm not a Trump supporter, but I've been advocating the same thing for years now. If you have a reasonably efficient official gateway into the country, then good people will use the gate. Give them a medical exam, a felony check, a dictionary and a Bible, Anyone who doesn't use the gateway is bad because there is no reason to walk across rattlesnake infested badlands if the gate is open. People who mean me no harm come through the front gate. If you are climbing over the fence when the gate is open, I assume something is wrong... with you. The first step in border enforcement is to separate the sheep from the goats. An efficient gateway does that along with a solid fence. [8]
Alex Haley's Roots: John Waller Comes to Virginia
Alex Haley's book, "Roots," is an account of his ancestry from African slave to American slave to a free man trying to find his roots by tracing back a family story passed from generation to generation. According to the book, the Waller family moves from England to Virginia in this year. A few generations will pass before a different John Waller will buy an African slave named 'Kunta" to work in his fields. Did the Wallers really sail from England at this time? The records are sparse but by all accounts, yes. A Colonel John Waller did travel from England to Virginia to colonize. Beyond that, who knows? [9] [10] [11]
My Take by Alex Shrugged
Alex Haley's book is a fictionalized account of what he said were real events. Yet, when scholars looked into these events, many of them didn't check out. If Haley had said that "Roots" was an historical novel then all would be well. Its a good story. The problem is that it is too good to be true. Novels are like that, but he said his story was highly researched with some fictionalized dialogue thrown in. Sorry. I'm not buying it. When the official biography of Ronald Reagan came out, many people complained because it read like a novel with obvious, fictionalized dialogue. People know they are going to get some spin from an official biography, but if it's a novel, say it's a novel. People don't want fake facts in a biography. [12] [13] [14]
Alex Haley's book is a fictionalized account of what he said were real events. Yet, when scholars looked into these events, many of them didn't check out. If Haley had said that "Roots" was an historical novel then all would be well. Its a good story. The problem is that it is too good to be true. Novels are like that, but he said his story was highly researched with some fictionalized dialogue thrown in. Sorry. I'm not buying it. When the official biography of Ronald Reagan came out, many people complained because it read like a novel with obvious, fictionalized dialogue. People know they are going to get some spin from an official biography, but if it's a novel, say it's a novel. People don't want fake facts in a biography. [12] [13] [14]
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Year 1635, Wikipedia.
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