history, Politics, Rewatch, Star Trek, Television shows, tv reviews

The Rewatch 170: The Drumhead

Posted on August 23, 2021August 23, 2021 by sokorra

Series: Star Trek: TNG
Episode: 4.21 The Drumhead (04/29/1991)
Rating: 4/5
Redshirt Status: 0/1/34

Notable Guest Stars:
Jean Simmons (Norah Satie) – Jean Simmons is a classic film actress and has quite a respectiable list of credits. She also worked with Jonathan Frakes in North and South which he was filming before and during the first couple seasons of TNG. They enjoyed working together and apparently, she was also a Trekkie so this was a good episode for both of them.

Bruce French (Sabin Genestra) – He is known for his role as Father Lonigan on Passions.

Spencer Garrett (Simon Tarses)– Garrett appears on Trek several times and will appear again on Voyager. He has also been in projects involving Star Wars, MCU (Iron Man 3), and Avatar. He is also the son of actor Kathleen Nolan.

Earl Billings (Thomas Henry)– Billings is a character actor who has appeared in several television shows over the years, including Cold Case and How I met Your Mother

Ann Shea (Nellen Tore)- This was Shea’s first credited role according ti IMDB. She would also star as Valarie on ER for several episodes as Valarie, a caretaker in the hospital day care.

Henry Woronicz (J’Dan)– Woronicz will appear on Trek again in Voyager.

Review:

Continue reading →

American History, general, Politics

Please Vote!

Posted on November 6, 2018 by sokorra

For those of you who are US citizens, today is election day. It is a midterm election which in the past have shown to have embarrassing small turnouts. So I decided to write a post today asking if you are registered to vote, please go out and vote.

I’m not going to tell you who to vote for – that is your own choice and responsibility.

The average turn-out for a midterm election is 40% according to Fairvote.com. That is less than half the population that is eligible to vote. It’s even less for elections that are purely local or primaries. Being involved in your government is the first tool to making a change in the government.

Imagine that you are having a pizza party and there are ten people. Four people get together and decide that the pizza is going to have sardines and pineapple. They asked everyone but 6 people decided to not participate in the choosing of toppings. That is what is happening during midterm elections. Only 4 of those ten people able to have a say are actually putting any input in. Most Presidential elections are only having 60% which is still embarrassing low.

Do not let your government be that way. Please vote today, and have a say in your local offices as well as federal. Local is even more important then federal as it is most likely to affect you personally as well as many of the future federal politicians will seek local positions first on their way to Washington. Choose good people to lay the foundation of the future.

Right now anyone over the age of 18 can register to vote. It was not always that way. Women and minorities have had to fight a long battle to gain the vote. We should all appreciate that fight and use our right to vote.

There are many online resources to help you find out where you can vote and how long the polls will be open. In particular there is Vote.org which has information about your rights as a voter and also can help you find your local polling place.

American History, essay, history, Women of history

Women of History: Elizabeth “Betsy” Ross

Posted on July 13, 2018July 13, 2018 by sokorra

Perhaps one of the most fabled females of early American (ie United States) history is Betsy Ross. Legend has her designing the American flag, consisting of a ring of stars representing the states as well as thirteen stripes representing the colonies that started the fight. Debate over the actual designer remains, as its largely thought that Ms. Ross did not in fact design that flag. Still, I thought it would be interesting to look into the life of the woman legend has claimed. Continue reading “Women of History: Elizabeth “Betsy” Ross” →

American History, history

Happy Independence Day! (US)

Posted on July 4, 2018July 2, 2018 by sokorra

Happy Independence Day to my readers from the US. Today is a post day, but as its a National Holiday and busy day for many of us celebrating, I decided to do another simple post, this time random facts about July 4th.

To my non-US readers, I swear this whole month won’t be a FREEEDOOOM month. While the theme of the Women of History posts will be American, it will otherwise not be US centric like this. Happy Republic Day to those in the Philippines, and a happy belated Canada Day to those in Canada.

So here we go, some interesting facts about Independance Day

– July 4th became a federal holiday in 1870, nearly a hundred years after the country was founded. It became a paid federal holiday in 1938.
The vote on the Declaration of Independence took place on July 2, the publication took place on July 4th (with two signatures including John Hancock’s) and wasn’t completely signed till August of that year. We also wouldn’t have ‘won our independence’ till 1783. John Adams reportedly observed Independence Day on July 2nd and considered the 4th to be wrong.
Two of the men who worked on the Declaration – John Adams and Thomas Jefferson – would become President. They also would die on July 4, 1826, 50 years later, just hours apart. James Monroe, another president, died on July 4, 1831. Calvin Coolidge was born on Independence day in 1872, only a few short years before the centennial celebration.
The Philippines celebrates July 4th as their Republic Day because they were recognized as an independent Nation and no longer a US territory on July 4, 1946.
We did not have a written plan for our government till November 1777. It would not be fully ratified until March 1, 1781. The Articles of Confederation would be scrapped in favor of the US Constitution in 1787. So the government we are all familar with didn’t exist for 11 years after the Declaration of Independence. The Constitution was effective just a few months before the US’ 12th birthday in 1789.
The first time the 50 state flag was displayed was July 4, 1960. Hawaii and Alaska had become states 10 months earlier, but they waited till the 4th to present the new flag. It has been 58 years since there was a change made to the Flag.
The Freedom of Information Act was signed on July 4, 1966 by President Johnson.

American History, essay, history, Politics

Women of History: The First US Senators

Posted on March 9, 2018March 4, 2018 by sokorra

This week we are going have a double feature, the first two women to ever serve in the US Senate: Rebecca Felton and Hattie Caraway. Women having the right to vote was passed with the 19th amendment to the constitution in 1920, but it would be quite a while before women started taking office in the highest offices in the government. In fact, Rebecca Felton was appointed to be a Senator for a day in 1922, but Hattie Caraway, the first woman to be elected to the Senate was sworn in November 1931, almost a full decade after Rebecca served her day.

Several of the next female Senators would be widows of Senators who died in office. The first time more than 2 women served at once wouldn’t be till the 1990s. Even in the current congress, women only make up 22 percent of the elected body. Only 29 states have ever had a female senator, and only 51 women have ever served in Congress. The current congress is actually the highest percentage ever of women.

Rebecca Felton was born Rebecca Ann Latimer on June 10, 1935. She grew up in Decatur, Georgia with three siblings. Her father was a general store owner and merchant, and was able to afford to send his daughter to live with relatives in Madison so that she could attend Methodist Female College, where she graduated at the top of her class in 1852 at 17. The college at the time was set up to provide a foundation education for the women who would one day be the wives of the businessman and planters. However, the war between the states would soon see the educational facility closed down.

A year later Rebecca married William Felton and moved with him in Cartersville, Georgia. William was, like her father, a planter and owned a plantation. Her experiences during the civil war, both as a resident of Georgia who saw the results of Sherman’s march and her life as a slave owner influenced her later political life. She saw slavery as mainly economical, a investment. However, she felt that she would have rather have given up ‘domestic slavery’ then have seen the detriment of the war on Georgia.

After the war,both she and her husband became more politically active. Rebecca herself focused on prison reform and women’s suffrage. However, she was not a intersectional feminist by any means. She pushed against the right to vote for black citizens, claiming education and voting would lead to more black crime. She was in favor of lynching and was otherwise a supremacist in attitude.

Her time in the senate arrived as an appointment. in 1922, Sen. Thomas E. Watson died. The governor of Georgia, Thomas Hardwick, decided to appoint Rebecca as a placeholder till a special election could take place. However, congress didn’t meet again until after the special election was held. Hardwick had been running for the position, but ended up losing to Walter F. George. George decided to allow Rebecca to be sworn in on November 21, 1922. She was the Senator from Georgia for 24 hours, as George was sworn in on November 22.

Rebecca continued her activism after she left office. She passed away on January 24, 1930 at the age of 94. It would be another year before another woman would take office in the US Senate.

Hattie Caraway would be the first woman elected into the Senate, but like Rebecca it would start as an appointment.

She was born Hattie Ophelia Wyatt on February 1, 1878 in Bakersville, Tennessee. Like Rebecca, she was the daughter of a farmer who owned a store. The family as a whole moved to Hustburg when she was four. She would remain there till her college years when she would transfer from Ebenezer College to Dickson Normal College where she would earn her bachelors of Arts degree in 1896.

She went on to teach for about eight years prior to her marriage to Thaddeus Caraway. She had met Thaddeus in college, but the pair didn’t marry until 1902. The pair would move to Jonesboro, Arkansas with their three children and set up a legal practice for Thaddeus and cotton farm.

In 1912, the couple made a second home in Maryland after Thaddeus was elected to the US House of Representatives for Arkansas. He would hold that position for 9 years before he was elected senator in 1921. In 1931, Thaddeus died suddenly from a blood clot while the couple was back home in Arkansas. The governor decided to appoint Hattie to hold the seat till an election could be held. She won the special election to finish out her husband’s final term. She won an election on her own right in 1932, and then proceed to hold her seat until 1945.

During her time in office, she became the first woman to preside over the Senate, to chair a committee and to win a re-election. She was given the responsibility of presiding over the senate twice. Once in 1932 (although it was not officially noted down) and again in 1943. She was a great supporter of Franklin Roosevelt and his new deal programs, although she, like Rebecca before her, was against any anti-lynching bill. She was focused on issues dear to her state, requesting to serve on the agricultural committee. She earned a reputation as “Silent Hattie” for her lack of speeches made on the floor. She tended to reserve her opinions for committee meetings and rallies instead.

After loosing her re-election campaign in 1944, she served both Roosevelt and Truman on their Employees’ Compensation committees. She suffered a stroke in early 1950 while still serving on the Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board , and died later that year on December 21.

Further Reading

Women in the US Senate

Rebecca Felton

Wikipedia: Rebecca Latimer Felton

History of Madison Georgia

The History of the First Methodist Church of Madison

Country Life in Georgia – Rebecca Felton (Ebook available free from Google Play)

Georgia Encyclopedia: Rebecca Latimer Felton

House History: Felton, Rebecca Latimer

Hattie Caraway

Wikipedia: Hattie Wyatt Caraway

House History: Caraway, Hattie Wyatt

The Encyclopedia of Arkansas: Hattie Ophelia Wayt Caraway

US Senate: A Woman Presides over the Senate

Master List

American History, essay, history, Politics

The Hung Parliament

Posted on June 9, 2017June 9, 2017 by sokorra

Yesterday, The United Kingdom held a general election for Parliament, called for by Prime Minister Theresa May. With the results in for the most part (one seat remains in the ether apparently) it appears that there is a “hung parliament.” For Americans (and non-parliamentarians) this may be a confusing phrase. So I decided today to look into it and write about it. If you happen to be british, and want to expand or correct something in my essay, feel free to leave a comment. I’m always willing to learn, and I’m using primarily online sources right now, which can be a bit vague or misleading at times. If you are not British or American, I apologise for the americentric viewpoint of this essay. I’m doing this from the viewpoint of an US citizen trying to understand British government. If you want to share how your government compares, I’m also interested in hearing it.

The UK is a democracy that works under a parliamentary model. Which the US does as well, although we added our own twists on things. There are some similarities between Parliament and Congress. For example, its bicameral, although how representatives are elected to both houses is different. Parliament’s two houses are the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The House of Lords, as the title suggests is members of noble families and members of the clergy of the Church of England, and they are appointed, rather than elected. The House of Commons on the other hand is an elected body.

Within the House of Commons, there are several parties. Unlike in the US, the UK is not a two-party system in practice or theory. There are several parties, and 650 seats. A party with a majority of more than 50% of the vote is considered the head of the government. However, when there is no sure majority the parliament is known as a “hung parliament”. In this case, two or more parties will join together to form a coalition government.

This is different from the United States, which uses a simple Majority style. The party with the most seats is head of the house in which they are in(currently the Republican Party). They in turn elect the person who would hold the senior positions in the house (Speaker of the House; President Pro Tempore) In the UK, even if a party has more seats, it does not automatically give it power. They have to have a strong majority, with over half of the votes. Once that is settled (or a coalition/minority government is formed), the Queen will choose a Prime Minister from the party which holds the majority.

Its near impossible for the United States to have a similar situation. If the Senate (with 100 members) was equally divided) they would still have the President of the Senate – the Vice President. This would create a majority for one party or another. The House has 435 members, which makes it hard to really have a 50/50 vote. On the other hand the United States also has a hard-stuck two-party system which has denied many other views/parties into the mainstream campaigning.

Elections are held every five years as of 2011 in the UK unless a vote is taken to make a special election (as what happened this year) and receives a 2/3rd majority vote in the House of Commons. Prior to yesterday’s election, the Conservative party (sometimes known as Tories) had the majority, and thus their prime Minister was Theresa May. The Prime Minister appoints the rest of the cabinet as well, which is the government formed.

With a hung Parliament we will have to see which parties will join to create the coalition government. Coalition governments usually come in two forms – a formal arrangement where the two parties join together to pass legislation and both hold roles in the cabinet/government, or an informal one where the smaller party agrees to support the larger parties agenda without a strong role in the government. Reports so far seem to be Conservatives (who have 49% of the vote and still a technical majority) and the Democratic Union party (who has 1.5) will be joining together to form an informal coalition of 50.5 percent of the vote. An unlikely but also possible scenario is that a re-election in August might be made if the Conservatives can not form enough of a working majority to push for their agenda.

It should be interesting to see what happens in the coming months as Brexit negotiations begin and the new government formed by Minster May gets working.

It also shows an interesting look into what may happen in the future elections in the US. The Conservative rule that seemed to be elected in the last few elections in various countries seems to be swinging to a more moderate stance. This could affect the United States too as it comes to mid-term elections next year.

Wikipedia: Parliament of the United Kingdom

Wikipedia: General Election 2017 Results

Guardian: What is a hung parliament

BBC: General Election what you need to know

CBS: What happens if the Senate splits 50-50

American History, essay, history, Politics

The Articles of The Confederation: Part 5

Posted on June 7, 2017 by sokorra

Ratification & Repeal

Once drafted, the Articles of Confederation were sent, as a pamphlet, along with a letter from the President of the Continental Congress: Henry Laurens to the 13 states. They were all asked to look it over and be prepared to vote on it by March 10, 1778. Most of the states had requests for alterations so the date got pushed back to July. States started to send in their considerations for amendments to the Articles but in the end none of them were used. Continue reading “The Articles of The Confederation: Part 5” →

American History, essay, history, Politics

The Articles of Confederation: Part 4

Posted on May 31, 2017May 30, 2017 by sokorra

The Last Articles

Article 9

It gives Congress the following powers.

exclusive right to determine War/Peace (exceptions for Article 6)
Foreign Affairs such as ambassadors, treaties, etc.
Establishing courts to prosecute cases of piracy
Giving out senior ranks during wartime
The power to answer any disputes between states

It also creates a system for how Congress will work. They must meet often enough that no break between gathering is more than 6 months. They also must record in a journal all the votes cast unless it’s a top-secret operation that requires that it not be public knowledge yet. The idea was that Congress would be very open about what it did while in session. It would send out monthly reports, including the vote rolls. They also must put forth the journal should any delegate or state request it.

Congress was given very limited powers. Most of the powers went to the states. It reiterates this point by stating that no decision of congress on several matters (including war, debt and national security) shall be in effect unless 9 states (2/3) agree to it. At this point in time the colonists who were forming their own country were afraid that a stronger government would abuse their powers, such as they saw Britain having done.

Later they would find that having too weak a central government caused problems as well. One of the things the Constitution set out to do was correct the imbalance and make a stronger Federal government that wouldn’t be too strong to abuse its powers.

Article 10

This article allows for the states to take the powers of Congress into their own hands should congress be in recess when need arose. It still required 9 states to agree to it, and if congress was in session, it would of course revert to Congress to have those powers. I’m not entirely sure how well this article would work out in practice. I tried researching this article to see if had ever been invoked but at the time of this posting, I haven’t found anything yet.

Article 11

I think this is my favorite part of the Articles of Confederation. Article 11 is a side note to Canada letting them know they can come join the US if they get tired of Great Britain’s rule. It basically says that they can come and join us and we’d be okay with that, but after them, everyone has got to be agreed on by at least 9 states (effective 2/3rd majority).

Considering this is not in the Constitution, I guess in ten years they gave up on the idea of the State of Canada.

According to the National Constitution Center, the US actually attempted to get Canada ceded over to them by the British in the Treaty of Paris. As you can tell by the fact Canada is not part of the United States, the British did not agree. America tried to take over Canada twice – in the American Revolution (failed) and in the war of 1812 (Failed – and led to the White House being burned). There was a poll done relatively recently and it should come as no surprise that not a large group of people feel that America and Canada should be one. On either side of the border.

Article 12

This is an article that makes its way into the Constitution. The US had lots of debts in its early years. While at war, they needed supplies, had to have a way to pay the soldiers who fought for independence and otherwise fund their government. This article pronounces that these debts will be recognized by the United States and the United States will pay them.

The Constitution notes that they will continue to recognize/pay these debts. It was important for the young nation to recognize what it owed to keep the allies it had made as well as keep the trust with any soldiers they may need to enlist in the future. Failure to accept the debt would make trusting them a bit harder.

Article 13

This is the article that gives the document its power. The declares that all the states shall abide by what had been decided in this congress of their representatives. It does not allow for much change, which the Constitution does. The only way to alter the document is for Congress to agree to it and for every state to agree to it. The Constitution made a method for Amendments where Congress proposes/passes them, and a 2/3rd majority of the States can ratify them. So in that it is more flexible to changing needs of the Nation.

Articles of Confederation – University of Minnesota Human Rights Library

Articles of Confederation – Revolutionary War.Net

When Canada was invited to join the United States – Constitution Center Blog

American History, history, Politics

The Articles of Confederation: Part 3

Posted on May 20, 2017 by sokorra

The Second Four Articles

Article 5

Article Five deals with Congress and representation. Unlike the constitution, the Articles of Confederation have very strict ideas about representation. For example, each state was allowed 2-7 representatives in Congress (no more or less). Each state would choose their delegates, and send them to meet on the first Monday in November each year. They could be recalled and replaced at the will of the State. A delegate’s term of service was limited to 3 years in any 6 year period. They were also required not to hold any other office in the government in which they could be paid.

Each state, despite the number of delegates/representatives, would only have 1 vote as a state. Which would mean that while there might be 7 people sent from that state, they’d have to come to some agreement on what they should vote for as a state rather than their own personal votes as it is now.

Delegates were given some diplomatic immunity to being arrested while doing their duties (unless it was treason, felony or breach of the peace).

Continue reading “The Articles of Confederation: Part 3” →

American History, history, Politics

The Articles of Confederation: Part Two

Posted on May 12, 2017 by sokorra

The First Four Articles

Preamble

The Preamble introduces the states that will be part of a “perpetual union”. Its interesting to read it because not all the states have the same name today. For example, Massachusetts is still referred to as Massachusetts Bay, and Rhode Island is called Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. Otherwise the States remain the same.

The original Thirteen were Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Delaware, Maryland, Connecticut, Virginia, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

It dates the document as November 15, 1777 and the second year of Independance.

Article 1

Article One is perhaps the most straightforward piece of legislation I have ever read. It simply reads that this country shall be named “The United States of America”. This time around it had a bit more literal a meaning, as it was to represent a union of states rather then a government that had states. The Articles of Confederation were very strong on the side of individual state rights.

A Confederation is defined as being a group of states with a central government with with independance of internal affairs. This was the style of government the US tried first. Our current government is a Federation – meaning it has a strong central government. Confederations have weaker central governments, with more power being distributed to the indivusual members of the union.

Article 2

The States get any power not delegated to Congress as their representatives, and retain their sovereignty. This is important. State rights have often been an area of contention between those who favor strong central governing from those who prefer uncentralized (State/local) power distribution.

In fact, it was over this fact that the first political parties were formed. George Washington had no party, and found the idea an horrible one. Clearly no one listened, and parties were formed. The first two major parties in the US were the Federalists (those who believed in a strong central government) and the Democratic-Republicans (those who favored a weaker central government and stronger State governments). The first election where this became an issue was when John Adams ran for President afer George Washington stepped down.

This all happened after the constitution, which gave the central government more rights then the Articles do. In the Articles, the central government really only has the power to deal with foreign affairs, such as payment of debts, declaring war & peace, and dealing with diplomatic channels. But there is a section on that so we will get to that later.

State Rights have been extremely important in American History. It not only created the first party divide, and political divisions, it also created some of the incentive for the Civil War which would occur less then 100 years later.

Article 3

One of the many reasons the states entered into this union was the fact that there were a few common needs the states faced where a central government would come in handy. One of them was mutual defense.

Article 3 was an agreement between the states to come to each other’s aid for common defense, general welfare and resistence against outside forces trying to attack the state in question through religion, soverneignty, trade or other issues.

Article 4

In the fourth Article, the Confederacy states that any citizen of the United States shall have their rights respected by all states, and can move freely around the country as long as they are not convicted of a crime. It also states that if someone is on the run from a crime and is found by another state, that state shall render the suspect back to their original state upon request from the executive of said state. This may sound familar because the Constitution also states this. However, the articles have a much weaker central government and much stronger state governments. The Constitution gave Congress more power to enforce such regulations.

To make an analogy, perhaps this is like the EU (although I admittedly have little knowledge on how governmentally the EU is set up.) The EU allows for its members to pass freely from country to country, no passports needed. However each country is independent. Under the Articles of Confederation, States had individual powers over many things we now consider Federal responsibility. They were able to create their own currencies and more. It would eventually cause problems, but this article enforces the idea that citizens of one state must have the same rights as a citizen of another state. So you can’t ignore someone’s rights just because they are from New Jersey and made the mistake of going to Philly for some cheesesteak.