Browsing: Society

A Brief History On March 15, 1991, The Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany became effective, effectively reuniting a German nation that had been divided since the end of World War II into an “East Germany” and a “West Germany,” a product of the suspicion and distrust between the Soviet Union and the Western Allies after the defeat of Germany (and their allies) in 1945. Digging Deeper Under the Soviet/Communist domination, East Germany, or the German Democratic Republic, floundered economically and suffered from the oppression of being an occupied country.  East Germans tried to flee to the…

A Brief History On March 8, 1917, the United States Senate voted to adopt a procedure designed to limit the maddening practice of filibuster in Senate proceedings, a practice called cloture, or colloquially “the guillotine!”  The rule was overwhelmingly approved by the Senate, with a vote of 76 for the measure and only 3 votes against adopting cloture.  Perhaps you have heard of this term many times in recent years as the US Senate battles through tough times for bi-partisan actions and neither side having a clear majority. Digging Deeper As you may note from the date of the adoption…

A Brief History On March 1, 1917, one of the most provocative diplomatic messages known to history was disseminated in the American press, the so-called Zimmerman Telegram, sent by Germany to Mexico in January of 1917 and intercepted by the British who dutifully relayed the shocking message to American President Woodrow Wilson.  An aghast and angry Wilson wanted to release the contents of the message to the world and the American people immediately but held the news until March 1, 1917.  An outraged American public learned of German designs on the American mainland and the telegram was largely responsible for…

A Brief History On March 1, 1961, a new pet project of newly sworn in President John F. Kennedy was created, the Peace Corps, a volunteer organization for the betterment of humankind run by the United States Government, just one of many agencies, departments and programs that would come to existence during this author’s lifetime.  Sure, Franklin Roosevelt invented all sorts of government agencies and programs during the Great Depression, but the Presidents and Congresses that have come since have not exactly been slackers when it comes to expanding our government.  Many of these agencies and programs seem so ingrained…

A Brief History On February 22, 2014, the Ukrainian Rada, their unicameral version of a legislative body, voted to impeach President Viktor Yanukovych of Ukraine, removing him from office.  In 2021, the American Congress is preparing to impeach President Donald Trump (as of January 11, 2021) in a history making second effort to oust the President.  While previous Presidents Andrew Johnson and William Jefferson (Bill) Clinton were both impeached, and in turn not convicted by the Senate and thus not removed from office, Trump was impeached in 2019, and like his predecessors on the hot seat, he was not convicted…