economics

A Perfect Storm: The Submerged Cities at the Nexus of Climate Change, Political Ideology, and Coastal Development

August 29, 2017kyra 2 Comments

In October of 2004, National Geographic published an article by Joel K. Bourne, Jr. entitled Gone With The Water that warned what would happen should a hurricane hit New Orleans. The storm hit Breton Sound with the fury of a nuclear warhead, pushing a deadly storm surge into Lake Pontchartrain. The water crept to the… Read more A Perfect Storm: The Submerged Cities at the Nexus of Climate Change, Political Ideology, and Coastal Development

The Peterloo Massacre

August 16, 2017kyra

One of the most enduring effects of the French and American Revolution in England was the governmental crackdown on ‘radicalism’, which was typically considered anything remotely resembling a call for sociopolitical reform. The government didn’t want a bunch of poor workers meeting and talking about inequality. The next thing you knew the poors would be… Read more The Peterloo Massacre

Philippa of Hainault, a Most Excellent Queen

August 15, 2017kyra

One of my personal historical favorites is Queen Philippa of Hainault, the wife and consort of King Edward III. Philippa was the second daughter born to William I, Count of Hainaut, and his wife, Joan of Valois, Countess of Hainaut. A lot of historians, and websites, list her birthday as 24 June 1314, but this… Read more Philippa of Hainault, a Most Excellent Queen

The Beginning of the Opium Wars

June 3, 2017kyra 1 Comment

On 3 June 1839 a Chinese patriot, moralist, and scholar-official of the Qing dynasty named Lin Tse-hsü (his name was also spelled Lin Zexu, and he additionally went by the courtesy name Yuanfu) ordered the destruction of approximately 1.2 million kg (2.6 million poiunds) of opium from British merchants in Guangdong Province. There was so… Read more The Beginning of the Opium Wars

The Tea Act of 1773

April 17, 2017kyra

The Tea Act passed Parliament on 17 April 1773, giving the struggling and overstocked British East India Company the right to ship tea tax-free into Britain’s North American colonies. Although the Colonists would still have to pay Townshend duties on their end, the lack of tax on the exports meant that the tea would be… Read more The Tea Act of 1773

James Mill: Liberal Philosopher and Racist Asshat

April 6, 2017kyra 1 Comment

James Mill, considered one of the best philosophical minds of the Regency era, was born on 6 April 1773. He was one of the founders and most ardent proponents of philosophic radicalism and was one of the key writers that helped steer Regency liberal politicians towards fighting to guarantee the freedom of the press and… Read more James Mill: Liberal Philosopher and Racist Asshat

International Women’s Day and Squirrels

March 8, 2017kyra 1 Comment

I am in a bit of a quandary. Wither do I dither, you may ask? You see, it is International Women’s Day, many women are on strike for A Day Without Women, and there are too many things I want to blog about on this topic. On the one hand, I could blog about Jane… Read more International Women’s Day and Squirrels

The Conundrum of the Battleground States

November 28, 2016kyra

First, lets just get this out of the way. Hillary Clinton won the election. She got more than TWO MILLION more votes than Donald Trump. Clearly, voters rejected neither her not her message. Liberals who were disenchanted with her moderate-right policies and who had backed Bernie Sanders clearly turned out in droves to vote for… Read more The Conundrum of the Battleground States

The Fly in the Ointment

August 22, 2016kyra 4 Comments

There is no Utopia and now we have discovered the dark underbelly of Welsh life – how they assign schools. Good Lord is it frustrating. Okay, in the USA you are guaranteed a place in the school of your district. If you move into that district on August 20th and school starts on the 21st,… Read more The Fly in the Ointment

Which Way Forward?

July 1, 2016kyra

Countries with a lot of inequality are unstable countries. Without economic stability and security for the populace, countries are prone to unrest and political extremism. Nothing good EVER comes from political extremism. Whether it is fascism in Hitler’s Germany or the communism in Stalin’s Russia, it sucks. Not only does it suck … it ALWAYS… Read more Which Way Forward?