Random Learnings #63
I happened upon this article in a 1949 issue of International Conciliation (sorry, didn't note which issue, the name of the article, the author): The North Atlantic Pact is a…
Random Learnings #62
Palo Alto: A History of California, Capitalism, and the World by Malcolm Harris tells the story of how California went from a Mexican/Mexican-influenced territory, extremely far away from the United…
When Poland Needed More Jews
World War I technically ended on November 11, 1918 with Germany agreeing to the Allies' terms for an armistice but did not conclusively end all fighting. The vacuum in Central…
FlightRadar24 Contributor
Discovery and First Attempt I first learned of software-defined radio attending a Devoxx UK session where the presenter showed how a consumer SDR dongle could receive digital messages from airplanes…
Random Learnings #61
China's history of censorship and book burnings goes back over 2000 years, when Qin Shihuang, the first emperor, supposedly issued an edict to destroy works he deemed politically dangerous. Today's…
What Is Democracy?
The victorious allies met in Potsdam, Germany in July 1945 to discuss the substance and procedures of the peace settlements in Europe after V-E day. Stalin was the sole remaining…
Citizenship
Citizenship [is a] relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection. Citizenship implies the status of freedom with accompanying responsibilities. Citizens…
Random Learnings #60
I knew that the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact split Poland between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. I knew that post-war Poland's eastern borders moved west, the Soviet Union demanding the…
Polish Brand of Communism
In February 1977 Tomasz Strzyżewski, censor no C-36 of the Kraków Main Office for Control of Press, Publications and Public Performances, boarded the ferry to Sweden at Świnoujście, Poland, for…
When Name Recognition Is Not Good
The Netflix show Five Came Back: The Reference Films consists of twelve government-sponsored propaganda films. The first episode is Nazi Concentration Camps is about the well-known and appalling conditions the…