http://tspwiki.com/index.php?title=1965
As always, Alex Shrugged's opinions are his own. Other people's work are their own. I include them here for the sake of completeness and to provide a second method of access to the material for the TSP history segment.
* The Great Society Exceeds Expectations... And All Sense of Reality -- Contributed by Alex Shrugged
* Fighting fire with fire -- Contributed by Southpaw Ben
* The Great Northeast Blackout -- Contributed by Alex Shrugged
* Notable Births -- See below.
* This Year in Film -- See below.
* This Year in Music -- See below.
* In Other News -- See below.
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The Great Society Exceeds Expectations... And All Sense of Reality
Contributed by Alex Shrugged"We can't prevent every little wiggle in the economic cycle... but... we now can prevent a major slide."
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- -- Charles Schultze, LBJ's budget director... not the cartoonist. [1]
My Take by Alex Shrugged
And after spending trillions and trillions of dollars, the poverty rate as of 2015 was 13.5%. That is a 3.5% drop from what President Johnson started with. You might say, "We could have just GIVEN that money to the poor DIRECTLY and eliminated poverty," but you would be wrong. The biggest, most expensive direct-giveaway experiment in welfare history was the Negative Income Tax experiment or NIT. One group was given enough money to raise them above the poverty line, so that they no longer had to struggle to survive. A second group (that is, the control group) was given simple information on existing job training programs, but no money at all. At the end of the experiment most of the control group had pulled themselves out of poverty, and were moving up at a steady pace. The NITs (Negative Income Tax recipients) had stopped trying. Since the results of the experiment did not meet expectations, the government ignored the results... or in the words of Mythbuster Adam Savage, "I reject your reality, and substitute my own!" [4] [5] [6]
And after spending trillions and trillions of dollars, the poverty rate as of 2015 was 13.5%. That is a 3.5% drop from what President Johnson started with. You might say, "We could have just GIVEN that money to the poor DIRECTLY and eliminated poverty," but you would be wrong. The biggest, most expensive direct-giveaway experiment in welfare history was the Negative Income Tax experiment or NIT. One group was given enough money to raise them above the poverty line, so that they no longer had to struggle to survive. A second group (that is, the control group) was given simple information on existing job training programs, but no money at all. At the end of the experiment most of the control group had pulled themselves out of poverty, and were moving up at a steady pace. The NITs (Negative Income Tax recipients) had stopped trying. Since the results of the experiment did not meet expectations, the government ignored the results... or in the words of Mythbuster Adam Savage, "I reject your reality, and substitute my own!" [4] [5] [6]
Fighting fire with fire
Contributed by Southpaw Ben"Burn yourselves, not your cards"
This was the cry that went out from some New Yorkers during an anti-draft protest. One of those protesters did just that three days later. Through out 1965 multiple anti-war activists performed self-immolation in protest of the United State's involvement in Vietnam, especially the bombing and napalming of innocent civilians, especially women and children. The first was Alice Herz, [7] who was the first known activist in the United States to have set herself on fire protesting war, taking her example from Thích Quảng Đức, who was discussed in On Fire for Freedom of Faith[8]. Next was Norman Morrison,[9], who went to outside the office of the Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, handed his one year old daughter to someone in the crowd, then proceeded to douse himself in kerosene, and lit himself on fire. Finally, the last person to protest the war in this fashion was the man who's story I started with. Roger LaPorte[10] went outside the Dag Hammarskjold Library on November 9th, just one week after Norman Morrison's protest, doused himself in gasoline, and set himself on fire.
My Take by Southpaw Ben
In a follow up to my previous segment on self-immolation, we can see this practice has come to the US. I remember hearing the story about the man handing his infant child off to a stranger in the crowd then lighting himself on fire for the first time, and it just hitting me hard, even though I was in my early teens. Unlike the Buddhist monk in 1963, who was able to capture the worlds attention and gain acknowledgement of the suffering of Vietnamese Buddhists, the United States protesters were a lot less successful. Norman Morrison's was the most successful, as the media grabbed a hold of the fact that he had one year old daughter with him right before he lit himself on fire. Before researching this his was the only one of the three self-immolations that I was even vaguely aware of occurring in the US.
In a follow up to my previous segment on self-immolation, we can see this practice has come to the US. I remember hearing the story about the man handing his infant child off to a stranger in the crowd then lighting himself on fire for the first time, and it just hitting me hard, even though I was in my early teens. Unlike the Buddhist monk in 1963, who was able to capture the worlds attention and gain acknowledgement of the suffering of Vietnamese Buddhists, the United States protesters were a lot less successful. Norman Morrison's was the most successful, as the media grabbed a hold of the fact that he had one year old daughter with him right before he lit himself on fire. Before researching this his was the only one of the three self-immolations that I was even vaguely aware of occurring in the US.
The Great Northeast Blackout
Contributed by Alex ShruggedMaintenance workers set a protective relay (like a circuit breaker) for the electrical transmission line going out of a Niagara Falls power plant, but they set it too low. At 5:16 p.m. Eastern Time a small power surges trips the relay, and all heck breaks loose. The sudden dropout forces the next power plant to take up the slack. This also produces a power surge pulling that power plant off line. A cascade effect ensues as each power plant in turn is overloaded. Some areas are able to isolate themselves from the grid, but the rest are going down fast. The electrical grid collapses, and blacks out the Northeastern United States and a large portion of Canada for 13 hours. Companies like Eastman Kodak have their own power generators, and remain powered throughout this event. People with their own generators become islands of light in the midst of darkness. [11]
My Take by Alex Shrugged
Oddly enough, many of the power plants were NOT prepared for their generators to stop turning. Generators are massive things THAT REQUIRE POWER to get them turning in the first place. Whatever is providing your ongoing power source like coal, nuclear, or a local river, it may not provide enough push to get the generator past its initial startup phase. In a portable generator, that initial push is provided by the owner pulling on the cord to get the engine running. For a massive power generation plant, they use a running power plant from somewhere else! Private companies with their own generators helped get government-sponsored power plants back on their feet. One thing is for sure. You can always depend on government. On exactly what, I'm not sure. Did they fix this problem? Well... they replaced the old system. Computers monitor the grid now. I feel safer already. Don't you? [12]
Oddly enough, many of the power plants were NOT prepared for their generators to stop turning. Generators are massive things THAT REQUIRE POWER to get them turning in the first place. Whatever is providing your ongoing power source like coal, nuclear, or a local river, it may not provide enough push to get the generator past its initial startup phase. In a portable generator, that initial push is provided by the owner pulling on the cord to get the engine running. For a massive power generation plant, they use a running power plant from somewhere else! Private companies with their own generators helped get government-sponsored power plants back on their feet. One thing is for sure. You can always depend on government. On exactly what, I'm not sure. Did they fix this problem? Well... they replaced the old system. Computers monitor the grid now. I feel safer already. Don't you? [12]
Notable Births
NOTE: As we get closer to the current day, the "Notable Births" will become less notable and drop away for obvious reasons. Perhaps it should be replaced by "Notable Deaths."- Dmitry Medvedev: Current Prime Minister of Russia. [13]
- Bashar al-Assad: Current President of Syria. (Nancy Pelosi liked him, but now he is the most evil man in the world after Putin.--alexshrugged) [13]
- J. K. Rowling: Author of the Harry Potter series. [13]
- Alexander Siddig: Dr. Bashir on Star Trek's Deep Space Nine. (Did anyone watch that show?--alexshrugged) [13]
- Amie F.: Mother of Southpaw Ben, born in PA, currently works as an RN at a nursing home.
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- -- In Music: Shania Twain. [13]
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- -- In Comedy: Chris Rock. [13]
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- -- In Movies: Charlie Sheen, Ben Stiller and Robert Downey Jr. [13]
This Year in Film
- The Sound of Music: Julie Andrews has another big hit! [15]
- Doctor Zhivago: Russia is coming apart at the seams. (Again.--alexshrugged) [15]
This Year in TV
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- -- In Comedy: Get Smart, I Dream of Jeannie and Hogan's Heroes. [17]
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- -- In Game Shows: The Dating Game and Supermarket Sweep. [17]
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- -- In Westerns: Wild, Wild West and The Big Valley. [17]
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- -- In Drama: I Spy (with Bill Cosby), and The FBI. [17]
This Year in Music
- The Beatles dominate with: Yesterday, Ticket to Ride and Help! (with a movie). [20]
- (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction: The Rolling Stones. [20]
- Mr. Tambourine Man: The Byrds. [20]
In Other News
- Malcolm X is assassinated: Members of the Nation of Islam did it. (I am appalled.--alexshrugged) [21]
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