A Brief History On November 1, 1968, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) introduced a system of rating motion pictures with a letter rating system to guide audiences in choosing which movies to see, especially insofar as movies they deemed appropriate for child age groups. The initial ratings included the letter designations G, M, R and X. (We will stop right here to take a moment and announce our opposition to censorship in almost all of its forms. Historically, censorship is a tool in the oppression of thoughts and ideas that limit the advance of mankind.) This letter rating…
Author: Major Dan
Major Dan
Major Daniel Zar is a retired veteran of the United States Marine Corps. He served during the Cold War and has traveled to many countries around the world. Prior to his military service, he graduated from Cleveland State University, having majored in sociology. Following his military service, he worked as a police officer eventually earning the rank of captain prior to his retirement.
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A Brief History On October 30, 1942, the heroic efforts of three British sailors resulted in the capture of codebooks and key setting sheets for the top secret Enigma code machine used by the German military during World War II. The sailors had boarded a sinking German submarine, U-559 in the Mediterranean Sea, costing 2 of the men their lives but reaping incredibly valuable coding material. The 2000 French-American World War II movie, U-571, shows a fictionalized account of American Navy forces capturing an intact German U-boat, a coup reminiscent of the U-559 incident and certain other U-boat related incidents…
A Brief History On October 29, 2018, Americans celebrate National Cat Day, or at least some Americans do. Those with bumper stickers that say “Cats, the Other White Meat” probably pass on the opportunity to regale themselves in cat trivia. If you are one of these anti-cat people (“I Like Cats, They’re Delicious” bumper sticker), pass this article up and wait for National Dachshund Day or something! (For the record, we are “Dog people,” not “Cat people,” though we do see the brighter side of having cats around.) Feel free to take exception to any of our reasons to love…
A Brief History On October 27, 1553, a Spanish scientist versed in many disciplines, Michael Servetus, was burned at the stake for heresy. The first researcher to correctly identify pulmonary circulation as the aeration of the blood through the lungs, his mind was a valuable tool for the Renaissance world that was snuffed out because of religious bigotry, a problem history has seen again and again over the years. Does religion continue to suppress the advance of science? Are religion and science incompatible? Today, we look at some of the ways religion and science have crossed swords over the years,…
A Brief History On October 26, 2001, President George W. Bush signed a new law into effect known familiarly as “The Patriot Act” or “The USA Patriot Act.” Of course, the name intentionally evokes nationalistic feelings in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and the subsequent Anthrax terrorist mailings, but did you know the name is actually an acronym? It is, with the long version called, “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001,” (Note how the first letters in the words spell out USA PATRIOT ACT) a…