The Three Mile Island (TMI) nuclear incident is the closest the United States ever came to a Chernobyl or Fukushima-level nuclear disaster. In March 1979, a series of human and mechanical errors caused the worst nuclear accident in U.S. history. It resulted in a partial meltdown of the reactor core, and a release of dangerousContinue reading “America’s Chernobyl – Three Mile Island”
Author Archives: andrewspaulw
China vs. Tibet, a Century of Occupation
Before Communist China existed, for over a thousand years, Tibet was a ‘protectorate’ of the Manchu/Qing Dynasty. Tibet however maintained its own language, governor, laws, army, and paid no taxes. China’s control over Tibet weakened during the 1800’s, when China suffered assaults from the Japanese and British Empires. By the turn of the 1900’s, TibetContinue reading “China vs. Tibet, a Century of Occupation”
California’s Vanishing Salton Sea
California’s largest lake is the man-made Salton Sea, a shallow, salt water lake in the middle of the southern California desert. It sits just north of the Mexican border. The Salton Sea lies in what used to be an ancient dry lake bed, only five feet higher than Death Valley. Today it is sadly vanishingContinue reading “California’s Vanishing Salton Sea”
The Fall and Rise of Labor Unions
Labor unions grew over a hundred years ago during the Industrial Revolution out of a relatively simple concept. The idea of protecting and advancing the common interest and rights of workers, both men AND women – fair wages, fair compensation, fair hours, fair conditions. Still, labor unions had a long and torturous rise to influence.Continue reading “The Fall and Rise of Labor Unions”
Evita Peron – The Woman Behind the Musical
The beautiful Evita Perón wielded amazing power in a time and country when few women broke the patriarchy barrier. Maria Eva de Perón was the 2nd wife of Argentinian President Juan Perón. She was the First Lady of Argentina from 1946, until her very early death at only 33. Popularized in a Broadway musical, sheContinue reading “Evita Peron – The Woman Behind the Musical”
The Rwanda Genocide – an African Holocaust
In 1994, in just one hundred gruesome days, nearly 1 million Rwandan Tutsis and moderates were slaughtered by ethnic Hutu extremists in the Rwanda Genocide.
The Confederate LOST CAUSE is not Lost
160 years after the American Civil War, we are hearing again about the Lost Cause of the Confederacy. The statues may be gone, by the Lost Cause survives.
The Irish Famine caused the 1st Immigrant Refugee Crisis
In Ireland, the Irish Famine is known simply as “THE HUNGER.” It began in 1845 when a potato blight spread through every farm in Ireland. and destroyed crops for the next 7 years.
The Deadliest Circus Train Wreck in History
One of the worst train wrecks in U.S. history happened with, of all things, a Circus Train. It was carrying over 400 performers when another train rear-ended it in the dead the night; and they burst into flames. The horrific tragedy happened to the famous Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus at Dutchman’s Curve near Hammond, Indiana on 22 June 1918. The circus train was stopped on the tracks for repairs. The circus train wreck killed 89 performers and roustabouts, and injured over 150 more. How could such a terrible disaster have occurred during the Golden Age of railroads?
Senator Joe McCarthy and The Red Scare
Senator Joe McCarthy was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1947 as a Wisconsin Republican. During his tenure, the bombastic McCarthy played upon America’s fears of “communist traitors” everywhere to gain unheard of political power. He abused his oversight authority by accusing thousands of government staff members and ordinary citizens of secretly being communists, spies, or left-leaning sympathizers. He skillfully used the press amplify lies and feed the people’s frenzy of fear and suspicion.