Jim Bakker was born on January 2, 1980 in Muskegon, Michigan. He attended North Central University and it was there where he met Tammy Faye. Eventually they married and left college to become evangelists. In 1966, the Bakkers began working at Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network where they contributed greatly to the network's growth. In 1972, they left Robertson's network and with Paul and Jan Crouch, they cofounded the Trinity Broadcasting Network.
From 1974-1987, the Bakkers hosted the PTL Club, which functioned like a late-night talk show. There were all types of guests on this show, ranging from religious figures to entertainers. This show, in addition to the amusement park, Heritage USA, that they set up, were huge successes. In fact, view contributions were estimated to exceed $1 million a week, with proceeds to expand the amusement park and The PTL Club's mission.
Two scandals brought down the ministry in 1987. It was found out that there was a $279,000 payoff for the silence of Jessica Hahn that was paid with PTL's funds through Bakker's associate Roe Messner. Jessica Hahn had allegedly been drugged and raped by Bakker and former PTL co-host John Wesley Fletcher. After disclosure of a payoff to Hahn, Bakker resigned from PTL but denied that he raped her.
Additionally, Bakker and his PTL associates sold $1,000 lifetime memberships, entitling buyers to an annual three-night stay at a luxury hotel at Heritage USA. Ten of thousands of memberships were sold but only a 500-room hotel was ever finished. From these memberships, Bakker raised more than twice the amount of money needed to buy the hotel. Some of the money was used to pay Heritage USA's operating expenses and Bakker also kept $3.4 million for himself. Baker was originally sentenced to 45 years in prison and a $500,000 fine, however, in 1992 his sentence was reduced to eight years. That same year, him and his wife got divorced.
In 2003, Bakker returned to Televangelism with the creating of the Jim Bakker Show. It is still running today and recently has been in a bit of trouble. A few week ago, his guest on the show, Sherrill Sellman, falsely implied that a Silver Solution would be an effective treatment to coronavirus. Selling a fake treatment violates both state and federal law, and the State of Missouri filed a lawsuit against Bakker to stop him from trying to advertise and sell products as treatments for the coronavirus. Missouri was the first state to file a lawsuit but others will probably follow in its footsteps.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Bakker
https://www.npr.org/2020/03/11/814550474/missouri-sues-televangelist-jim-bakker-for-selling-fake-coronavirus-cure
Tuesday, March 31, 2020
South Boston High School
South Boston High School was a public school in South Boston. Amid the Boston busing crisis and public school desegregation in the 70s, many incidents involving racism took place. On the first day of school in 1974, only around 120 of the expected 1300 enrolled students showed up. Multiple fights broke out in the school, primarily white students mistreating black students.
The violence continually escalated until Michael Faith, a 17 year old white student, was stabbed by another black student in the corridor. The local schools were shut down as hundreds of whites gathered at the school, fighting against police forces. About 135 black students were trapped in the building for hours. Police were attacked with rocks and cans as they tried to keep the mob out, resulting in 7 residents and 3 policemen being sent to the hospital. Three white students were arrested and charged for assault on police with deadly weapons. Meanwhile, more police managed to evacuate the students through the side whilst distracting the mob with three decoy school buses, which were eventually destroyed.In hindsight, many commented that it was big mistake to have bused students from Roxbury to South Boston right off the bat, as there was too much enmity between the two. Furthermore, it was a major policy failure to implement public policy without first consulting the communities. Further mistakes of the incident was due to the misjudgment of Judge Garrity, the local judge who carried out the court order despite rising complaints.
Sources:
https://archive.org/details/southbostonmyhom00ocon/page/220
https://www.nytimes.com/1974/12/12/archives/south-boston-schools-shut-in-clashes-over-stabbing-south-boston.html
https://www.excelhighsb.org/our-history
Fashion in the 80s
Another change in the fashion scene was the rise of masculine clothing for women. In 1985, 73.4% of women in the US were employed usually full time, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Women in professional jobs was increasing dramatically, and called for some adjustments to wardrobes. Pant suits became a popular trend, some even incorporating the bright colors, like this one. Shoulder pads made for a broader chest that allowed women to physically seem as if they were competing with men for jobs. Although more feminine styles like skirts and dresses were still worn, they were often paired with a blazer to balance everything out. Large belts would also be used in more casual outfits to still give women figure while making them seem more powerful.
Sources:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/656379?read-now=1&seq=4#page_scan_tab_contentshttp://www.80sfashion.org/neon-clothing/
The Hubble Space Telescope
The space race of the 1960s was a major time for America in space, but landing men on the moon wasn't the end of the American exploration of space. In the 1990s, NASA was launching more space shuttles than ever before and space stations were being built thanks to the new shuttle technology. One major milestone for NASA took place on April 24, 1990. On this date, the Hubble Space Telescope was launched. This was the first great space observatory launched by NASA and it played a critical role in the understanding of space we have today.
The Hubble Space Telescope is named after Edwin Hubble. Hubble was an astronomer who showed that the faint clouds that could be seen in the sky were actually entire galaxies in the 1920s. He was crucial to the initial understanding of space, hence the naming of the telescope after him.
he original goals of the telescope were somewhat simple. The scientists hoped that the telescope would be able to help determine some of the processes that occur in stars and other galactic objects. The telescope was also supposed to help confirm that the laws of physics could still apply in other parts of the universe.
One key detail that makes this telescope so impressive is the number of times that it has been serviced while in orbit. There have been 5 different servicing events by astronauts on board the space shuttle. The servicing missions took place from 1993 to 2009. The first servicing mission was actually to install devices to helo compensate for the fact that the primary mirror of the telescope was shaped incorrectly. Without the ability to complete these in-orbit repairs, the telescope would have continued being broken and it would have affected the mission. They also added 2 new cameras to Hubble in 1997 which were built using technology that didn't exist when the telescope was originally being built. The final servicing mission (which was originally scheduled for 2004) took place in 2009 and included the first on-site repairs for 2 different instruments. This ability was something nobody had ever thought possible. Having such an expensive piece of technology repaired in orbit is what has made this telescope so useful for 3 decades.
Despite being almost 30 years old, the telescope isn't going anywhere. NASA has the Hubble operations funded through 2021, which is the estimated date for the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, the successor to Hubble. The telescope is predicted to naturally fall out of orbit sometime in the 2030s, but it is unclear if NASA will use private spacecraft to give the telescope a boost. Despite some equipment failures, the telescope is still transmitting data to us to this day.
Sources: https://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/about/history/timeline/90s-decade.html
https://hubblesite.org/mission-and-telescope
https://astronomy.com/news/2019/10/how-long-will-the-hubble-space-telescope-last
The Hubble Space Telescope is named after Edwin Hubble. Hubble was an astronomer who showed that the faint clouds that could be seen in the sky were actually entire galaxies in the 1920s. He was crucial to the initial understanding of space, hence the naming of the telescope after him.
he original goals of the telescope were somewhat simple. The scientists hoped that the telescope would be able to help determine some of the processes that occur in stars and other galactic objects. The telescope was also supposed to help confirm that the laws of physics could still apply in other parts of the universe.
One key detail that makes this telescope so impressive is the number of times that it has been serviced while in orbit. There have been 5 different servicing events by astronauts on board the space shuttle. The servicing missions took place from 1993 to 2009. The first servicing mission was actually to install devices to helo compensate for the fact that the primary mirror of the telescope was shaped incorrectly. Without the ability to complete these in-orbit repairs, the telescope would have continued being broken and it would have affected the mission. They also added 2 new cameras to Hubble in 1997 which were built using technology that didn't exist when the telescope was originally being built. The final servicing mission (which was originally scheduled for 2004) took place in 2009 and included the first on-site repairs for 2 different instruments. This ability was something nobody had ever thought possible. Having such an expensive piece of technology repaired in orbit is what has made this telescope so useful for 3 decades.
Despite being almost 30 years old, the telescope isn't going anywhere. NASA has the Hubble operations funded through 2021, which is the estimated date for the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, the successor to Hubble. The telescope is predicted to naturally fall out of orbit sometime in the 2030s, but it is unclear if NASA will use private spacecraft to give the telescope a boost. Despite some equipment failures, the telescope is still transmitting data to us to this day.
Sources: https://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/about/history/timeline/90s-decade.html
https://hubblesite.org/mission-and-telescope
https://astronomy.com/news/2019/10/how-long-will-the-hubble-space-telescope-last
Monday, March 30, 2020
Tiananmen Square Protests
In the spring of 1989, students led demonstrations calling for democracy, free speech, and free press in China. The protestors initially marched through Beijing to Tiananmen Square following the death of Hu Yaobang, a former Communist Party Leader who had introduced Democratic reform in China. The students mourned Yaobang's death by calling for a more open, democratic government and each day hundreds of more people would come out to the Tiananmen Square to protest.
There were many issues the students were protesting. One of the main issues was that there was not much political freedom with the Communist Party holding so much power and there were ongoing economic issues. Even though there had been some reforms that were instituted by the government in the 1980's, they were mostly unsuccessful. The poor and working-class still faced the challenges of lack of jobs and poverty.
As the movement grew, the Chinese government grew more uncomfortable with the situation. In fact, a welcome ceremony schedule for Prime Minister Gorbachev of the Soviet Union was held in the airport instead of Tiananmen Square. The Chinese Government eventually declared martial law on May 20 and 250,000 troops entered Beijing.
With the amount of protestors growing to over 1 million, the military had little success in stopping the protests and it was decided that more aggressive measures needed to take place. On June 4, Chinese soldiers and police stormed into Tiananmen Square and fired into the crowd. Some protestors tried to escape but others fought back. By the end of the day, there were hundreds to thousands killed and around 10,000 arrested.
The Chinese Government's response was widely denounced, particularly be Western governments and media. Leader worldwide condemned the military action and the United States Congress voted to impose economic sanction against China for violating human rights.
The protests led to a strengthened role for the Communist Party in domestic affairs. Many of the freedoms introduced during the 1980's were rescinded and the party re-established firm control over the media. Also, the protests led to increased spending on internal security and expanded the role of the People's Armed Police in suppressing urban protests.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_Tiananmen_Square_protests
https://www.history.com/topics/china/tiananmen-square
There were many issues the students were protesting. One of the main issues was that there was not much political freedom with the Communist Party holding so much power and there were ongoing economic issues. Even though there had been some reforms that were instituted by the government in the 1980's, they were mostly unsuccessful. The poor and working-class still faced the challenges of lack of jobs and poverty.
As the movement grew, the Chinese government grew more uncomfortable with the situation. In fact, a welcome ceremony schedule for Prime Minister Gorbachev of the Soviet Union was held in the airport instead of Tiananmen Square. The Chinese Government eventually declared martial law on May 20 and 250,000 troops entered Beijing.
With the amount of protestors growing to over 1 million, the military had little success in stopping the protests and it was decided that more aggressive measures needed to take place. On June 4, Chinese soldiers and police stormed into Tiananmen Square and fired into the crowd. Some protestors tried to escape but others fought back. By the end of the day, there were hundreds to thousands killed and around 10,000 arrested.
The Chinese Government's response was widely denounced, particularly be Western governments and media. Leader worldwide condemned the military action and the United States Congress voted to impose economic sanction against China for violating human rights.
The protests led to a strengthened role for the Communist Party in domestic affairs. Many of the freedoms introduced during the 1980's were rescinded and the party re-established firm control over the media. Also, the protests led to increased spending on internal security and expanded the role of the People's Armed Police in suppressing urban protests.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_Tiananmen_Square_protests
https://www.history.com/topics/china/tiananmen-square
Sunday, March 29, 2020
MK Ultra
MK Ultra was a series of covert mind control experiments conducted by the CIA on American and Canadian citizens, often illegally, and without knowledge or consent. The stated intent of the program was to find drugs and techniques for extracting information during interrogations. Test subjects were subjected to torture, hypnosis, sensory deprivation, and large doses of hallucinogens like LSD. It officially lasted from 1953 until 1973, when the CIA director Richard Helms ordered all documents pertaining to it destroyed. MK Ultra was only brought to public knowledge in 1975, when Congress started investigating CIA misconduct through the Church and Rockefeller Commissions. Most modern evidence of the program exists from a cache of documents found in 1977, which accidentally did not get destroyed.
MK Ultra was initially started in response to alleged Soviet mind control on American POWs in the Korean War, with the CIA not wanting to fall behind in terms of intelligence. The foundations of the program were based upon the human experimentation of the Holocaust and Imperial Japan’s Unit 731, with Nazi scientists even brought on to assist in the early stages. Multiple secret detention camps were established around Europe and Asia, where suspected spies were subjected to torture and experimentation. The CIA began conducting LSD trials on Americans, distributing the drug to various universities and hospitals. Some of these trials had willing participants while others did not. Vulnerable people like mental patients, prisoners, and drug addicts were targeted; in one case, a mental patient was given LSD for 174 days straight. In Operation Midnight Climax, several brothels were set up in San Francisco, in order to get test subjects who would be too embarrassed to talk about their experiences. Patrons were secretly dosed with LSD and then observed through one way mirrors. CIA and other government employees were also given LSD and sometimes interrogated along with it. Some trials were exported to Canada, where subjects were put into drug induced comas for up to three months, electroshocked, and hypnotized. These experiments resulted in many deaths and immeasurable psychological damage. By 1961, it was clear that LSD was not the solution, and the CIA abandoned it in favor of more powerful and dangerous drugs. MK Ultra was gradually reduced in scope until its official end in 1973.
By the mid 1975, the Church and Rockefeller Commissions were set up to investigate past activities of the FBI, CIA, and Department of Defense, revealing the existence of MK Ultra to the public, but with little detail, as most documents were destroyed in 1973. In the end, no one was convicted of wrongdoing, and the government contested (and often won) most lawsuits filed against it in relation to the program.
Sources:
Image Source:
TWA Flight 847
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| TWA B727 flight 847 from Athens to Rome |
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| Pilot John Testrake and Terrorist in the window of the 727 |
After the hijacking, the plane deviates from course to fly towards Lebanon, requesting permission to land in Beirut. When denied landing permission, pilot John Testrake said, “He has pulled a hand-grenade pin and is ready to blow up the aircraft if he has to. We must, I repeat, we must land at Beirut. We must land at Beirut. No alternative!” The air traffic controller relented, and flight TWA 847 landed in Beirut. There, 19 American women and children were released in exchange for fuel, then the plane took off to Algeria to release 22 more people, and took off back to Beirut again.
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| Robert D. Stethem |
Upon landing in Beirut for the second time, the Beirut International Airport refused to give fuel to the hijacked airplane. Upon hearing this, the terrorists singled out Robert D. Stethem, an American Navy diver. They brutally beat Stethem and breaking every bone in his body, urging him to speak into the mike to beg for fuel for the airplane: Stethem remained silent. The terrorists proceeded to shoot him in the head and dumped his body onto the tarmac. A flight attendant had to pay to fuel the airplane with her personal credit card. The terrorists singled out 7 American passengers with Jewish-sounding surnames, were led off the plane and sequestered in Beirut, while two dozen Hezbollah terrorists boarded the plane. The plane took off back to Algiers, where 60 more passengers were released in exchange for the freedom of a Hezbollah accomplice in Athens. The plane flew back and landed in Beirut for the third time. The remaining passengers were taken off the plane and held hostage throughout Beirut.
The Amal and Hezbollah organizations demanded the release of 700 Shia prisoners held in Israel in exchange for the hostages. This was resolved over several complicated political maneuvers. The United States did not want to concede to the Amal’s demands, and refused to ask Israel to release the prisoners, but would support their decision if they released them. Israel did not want to negotiate with the terrorists at all, and refusing to release any prisoners until the United States asks them to. The hostages were eventually freed on June 30th, and the Israel government released the 700 Shia prisoners over time, however they denied that the release was connected to the hijacking.
Sources:
https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/hijacking-of-twa-flight-847
https://apnews.com/b6e8f5e3dc8a5fa7d353f0a316fed86e
http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-8105.html
https://www.askthepilot.com/twa-847/
https://www.nytimes.com/1985/06/15/world/he-s-pulled-a-grenade-pin.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C66qyCEL_Hs
https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/09/800px-Trans_World_727-231-1024x640.jpg
https://www.askthepilot.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/TWA-847-Small.png
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/SW2_Robert_Stethem.jpg
"Star Wars"
During his presidency, Reagan embarked on the largest military buildup in American history in his attempt to end the Cold War. In 1983 he launched the Strategic Defense Initiative, nicknamed "Star Wars." Reagan wanted to create a defense system that would intercept and destroy Soviet missiles. Although it was never actually deployed, the system has become a precursor for some of the ideas Trump has put forward. Such policies have the potential to destabilize the world.
I found this short film from the 1980s that advocates for an early version of the Strategic Defense Initiative: STRATEGIC DEFENSE INITIATIVE STAR WARS RONALD REAGAN. It demonstrates Reagan's opposition to MAD: he called it a "dual suicide pact" and believed that the United States needed something more than just deterrence to protect the American people. "Star Wars" would destroy MAD because it would give the United States an advantage in stopping Soviet missiles. Reagan's final SDI focused on the development of lasers and particle beams to shoot down enemy intercontinental ballistic missiles. It would rely on a network of ground-based and space-based systems. Reagan also hoped this policy would reassert America's world power.
Critics of "Star Wars" questioned whether the plan was truly strategic or technologically feasible. It faced a lot of public opposition as the nuclear freeze movement grew momentum in the early 1980s. People were afraid that it would reignite the arms race and escalate the Cold War. Not to mention it would violate the Anti-ballistic Missile Treaty of 1972. In 1987, the American Physical Society decided that it was not possible to achieve Reagan's aims with the existing technology and the program dwindled.
When Bush became president he shifted the program's focus to theater missile defense and called the organization Global Protection Against Limited Strikes. He also cut the proposed costs from $53 billion to $41 billion. Clinton continued Bush's policies, focusing on regional coverage, and changed the name to the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization in 1993. Then in 2002 it became known as the Missile Defense Agency as it is today.
Trump has stated that he wants to expand the United States' missile defense program because he sees North Korea, Iran, China and Russia as threats. He has proposed technologies similar to Reagan's, such as lasers and space-based systems. As we saw with Reagan's initiative, this plan would be costly, may not work technologically, and could lead to another dangerous arms race.
WWW
In 1989, work began on what some would say is the most impactful technological invention to date: the World Wide Web. The project was led by Sir Tim Berners-Lee, who was a computer scientist that worked at CERN, a scientific organization. Berners first started development on the Web when he realized the growing issue of needing to find which computer sored which document, especially as research grew. Thus, Berners looked towards the already existing but hardly developed the internet as a potential solution to his issue.
One year into its development cycle, Berners had already developed groundbreaking technology used today. The had created three fundamental components: HTML, URL, and HTTP. HTML was a language used to format and markup websites on the internet, URL was an address that linked to specific websites, and HTTP was the port that allowed for information retrieval. They also used this technology to create the world's first webpage (http://info.cern.ch/). Other researchers also created the line-browser, which allowed others to download and search the web without hassle.
Word of the new invention quickly spread when the WWW first became public, and many companies began to look towards it for both data storage and possible new business ventures. Luckily, the WWW arose at a time coinciding with the popular web browser Mosaic, allowing for simple "point-and-click" manipulations to webpages in order to browse the new Web. Netscape Navigator and InternetWorks also quickly arose as new browsers, boasting features such as the ability to open multiple tabs. Most notably, however, was the release of Internet Explorer and Safari, which both can pre-installed with new Windows and Mac computers, allowing direct access to the WWW. At this point, 10000 servers had been created on the web, and there were 10 million active users.
At this point, not all the questions of the WWW were solved. The major one puzzling CERN and Berners was the question of patenting the WWW, or to make it open source. Berners eventually realized, however, in order to utilize a technology made for the use of everyone, it had to be free. Making the technology proprietary would most likely have led to stunted web growth, as then only businesses or researchers could have produced websites on the WWW, rather than ordinary people. In 1993, this announcement was made public and sparked waves of creativity and innovation. The following year, Berners moved to MIT and founded W3C, an organization dedicated to the standard of a free and open web. This organization works to prevent the centralization of internet freedom and power, thus preventing censorship and anything that would reduce the openness of the web. As he tweeted during the 2012 Olympics, "This is for everyone."
https://webfoundation.org/about/vision/history-of-the-web/
https://home.cern/science/computing/birth-web/short-history-web
https://www.britannica.com/topic/World-Wide-Web
https://www.history.com/news/the-worlds-first-web-site
Saturday, March 28, 2020
The Bonfire of the Vanities
The novel The Bonfire of the Vanities is a satirical novel written by Tom Wolfe. The story originally ran in installments in the Rolling stone beginning in 1984 and there were a total of 27 installments. Wolf later published a heavily revised version in book form in 1987. It was well received being both a bestseller and often referred to as “the quintessential novel of the 1980s”.
Wolfe had always planned to write a novel that captured the broad spectrum of American society. His inspiration was William Makepeace Thackeray's novel Vanity Fair, which described the society of 19th century England.
In his novel, Wolfe wanted to capture the essence of New York City in the 1980s, and shine a light on the darker side of what was happening in the City. In his novel, he wanted to include the crime, homelessness, and racial and cultural tensions that plagued New York at the time. He began researching his novel by shadowing members of the Bronx homicide squad and observing cases at the Manhattan criminal court. The characters in his novel were based on the individuals and cultural observations he had made when researching.
The title of the novel, is a reference to the actual bonfire of the vanities that occurred in Florence Italy in 1497. Under the rule of Dominican priest, Girolamo Savonarola, items that church authorities deemed sinful were burned. These items included cosmetics, mirrors, books, and art.
The story itself covers racism, social class, politics, greed, and ambition in 1980s New York City. It follows the lives of three main characters Sherman McCoy, a WASP bond trader, Larry Kramer, a Jewish assistant district attorney, and Peter Fallow, a British expatriate journalist. The story begins when McCoy and his mistress are involved in the hit and run of a Henry Lamb, a young black teen, and from this event, the lives of the three main characters become entwined.
Each character has their own vanity and ambitions, Kramer wants to impress his former jury member and Fallow is desperate for a story that will redeem his career for example. Each of these ambitions takes form in the case of Henry Lamb. Wolfe also vividly compares the worlds of McCoy and Henry lamb contrasting the rich white Park Avenue and the poor, black Bronx.
Sourceshttps://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/jan/10/bonfire-of-vanities-tom-wolfe
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/may/20/tom-wolfe-new-york-south-bronx-bonfire-of-the-vanities
Ladies and Gentlemen, Rock and Roll: MTV in the 80s
On August 1st, 1981, MTV launched, going on air with the words “Ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll” followed by the music video for “Video Killed the Radio star” by The Buggles. The purpose of MTV was to be "music television", a channel that would play music videos 24/7. When MTV first launched music videos were virtually unknown.
The content on the channel was moderated and guided by people known as VJs (video jockeys). At the start of the channel due to the uncertainty of the channel's success VJs were told to keep their second jobs and not to buy permanent residences, however, as the channel gained popularity these measures would be obsolete. VJs were tasked with recording intro and outro voice overs before each broadcast including information about music news, interviews, concert dates, and promotions. Once MTV increased in popularity, artists would even feature as guest VJs for an hour.
In the early days of MTV programming consisted of music videos that were provided free by record companies. However, once record labels recognized MTV's value as a promotional instrument more money was invested into creating cutting edge videos.
As the channel began to pick up speed people began to notice the lack of black artists featured on the channel. There were only a select few black artists included in the rotation on the channel. These select few were Michael Jackson, Prince, Eddy Grant, Donna Summer and even they struggled to get substantial air time on the channel. To break the “color barrier” Walter Yetnikoff, the president of CBS records which Michael Jackson was signed with, denounced MTV in a statement threatening to take away MTV’s ability to play any of the label’s artists. After this MTV started to feature more black artists, however, Les Garland, the acquisition head at the time, claimed he decided to feature Jackson without any pressure from CBS.
Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean is considered “the video that broke the color barrier”. Despite this, at first, the video was only played in medium rotation (two to three times a day). However, once it reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100, the video began to play in heavy rotation. In the following weeks and months, more Black Artists started to play in heavy rotation.
In the 1980s, MTV was significant in promoting careers of performers such as Madonna, Michael Jackson, Prince, and Duran Duran, and for bringing lesser-known artists to view. In addition to this, it was instrumental in the booming ‘80’s dance wave. The budgets for music videos increased and artists began to create fully choreographed dance sections to include in their videos. Fans began to learn not only the lyrics to their favorite songs but also the dances. Michael Jackson’s music became synonymous with dancing.
In the late 1980s, MTV began to change its content. It focused less on airing music videos and more on creating content and shows geared towards teenagers and young adults. Today, you’ll find little to no music videos playing on MTV.
Sources
The LTCM Blow Up
LTCM (Long Term Capital Management) was a hedge fund which established itself in 1994. The firm was unique because it was comprised of many Nobel prize-winning economists like Myron Scholes (Co-Founder of the Scholes-Black options pricing model) and Robert Merton (Founder of Sociology of Science) and highly successful bringing in an annual return of 40% after the fund managers took their share. To invest in the fund, you must pay a minimum if 10 million dollars and agree to let your money stay in the firm for a minimum of 3 years, yet investors still invested in it. There was so much money in the hedge fund, that if it were to go bankrupt the global economy would be severely damaged.
The issue first appeared in 1998 when multiple events occurred which LTCM had not prepared for like the devaluation of the Russian currency and the Dow Jones stock dropping by 13%. These events led to interest rates falling by more than a point, which if not prepared for, could easily lead to bankruptcy for a hedge fund, as hedge funds make their profit off of capital which they borrow with interest. The interest rate fall caused LTCM to lose more than 50% of its capital. This sent the financial world into panic mode, as many banks had put millions and millions of dollars into LTCM. LTCM was on the verge of bankruptcy and there seemed to be no way out.
This was until the Federal Reserve intervened. The Reserve convinced 14 banks to leave the LTCM by paying them 3.5 billion dollars in exchange for 90% of LTCM. While this is the offer which was taken, there were alternatives. Business magnate Warren Buffet offered to buy out the fund for 250 million dollars, which was far below what the shareholders were willing to settle for. The Federal Reserve ended up saving the world of finance from collapsing, but this would not be the last time the world of finance would be put into this kind of peril. Many argue that the LTCM blowup was a precursor to the Global Financial Crisis of 2008 exactly 10 years later.
Sources:
https://www.thebalance.com/long-term-capital-crisis-3306240
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/longtermcapital.asp
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Myron-Scholes
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Robert-K-Merton
The issue first appeared in 1998 when multiple events occurred which LTCM had not prepared for like the devaluation of the Russian currency and the Dow Jones stock dropping by 13%. These events led to interest rates falling by more than a point, which if not prepared for, could easily lead to bankruptcy for a hedge fund, as hedge funds make their profit off of capital which they borrow with interest. The interest rate fall caused LTCM to lose more than 50% of its capital. This sent the financial world into panic mode, as many banks had put millions and millions of dollars into LTCM. LTCM was on the verge of bankruptcy and there seemed to be no way out.
This was until the Federal Reserve intervened. The Reserve convinced 14 banks to leave the LTCM by paying them 3.5 billion dollars in exchange for 90% of LTCM. While this is the offer which was taken, there were alternatives. Business magnate Warren Buffet offered to buy out the fund for 250 million dollars, which was far below what the shareholders were willing to settle for. The Federal Reserve ended up saving the world of finance from collapsing, but this would not be the last time the world of finance would be put into this kind of peril. Many argue that the LTCM blowup was a precursor to the Global Financial Crisis of 2008 exactly 10 years later.
Sources:
https://www.thebalance.com/long-term-capital-crisis-3306240
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/longtermcapital.asp
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Myron-Scholes
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Robert-K-Merton
Central Park Five
That day, April 20th, 1989, an individual now known as the Central Park Jogger, Trisha Meili, was found unconscious, beaten and raped. The media was quick to report on the issue, and highlighted the grotesqueness of the beating, citing that she had lost 75% of her blood and had a severe skull fracture. This quickly ignited the populus, as many looked for people to blame and groups to target for the attack. Later on, the New York Daily News published a paper on the issue and made bold claims that a “wolfpack” of 30 teens that were assaulting other passerbyers had dragged the woman down a ravine and committed the crime.
Of these thirty, five teens were charged for the crime, and eventually became known as the Central Park Five. These five included Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, and Korey Wise, all between the ages of 14 and 16.
This sparked a major racist outcry, as individuals started calling the actions of the alleged attackers “wilding” and described them as “bloodthirsty, animals, savages”. Others cited segregational divisions and claimed that African Americans lived in inherently different worlds of “crack, welfare, guns, knives, indifference and ignorance” where the enemies were white people. This growing exaggeration and tightening of the issue ultimately led to a media tsunami, where facts became more and more warped in order to heighten the degree and supposed grotesqueness of the incident. In fact, even Donald Trump bought large newspaper ads that called to “Bring Back The Death Penalty. Bring Back Our Police!"
Regarding the actual arrest and trial, Kevin Richardson and Raymond Santana were first brought in on charges of unlawful assembly. Later, they were joined by McCray, Salaam, and Wise. For over 24 hours, despite the fact that DNA samples didn’t match any of the teens, police denied them food, sleep, or water and forced out confessions from the teens, claiming that they had done the crime. Salaam was later interviewed in 2016, far after the case, and claimed that he could hear Korey Wise being beaten, and officers threateningly told him that he would be next and that they needed confessions.
During the trial, despite having recanted the confessions, all 5 were convicted of sexual assault, rape, and other crimes, serving between 6-13 months in jail. Surprisingly, in 2002, 13 years after the initial incident, Matias Reyes, an already convicted murderer and rapist confessed to the Central Park crime, which was confirmed through DNA tests. The following year, the Central Park 5 sued the city of New York for racial discrimination, emotional distress, and other charges, ultimately gaining $41 million.
Despite all this, during the 2016 election, when Trump was asked about his actions of calling for the death penalty against the five, he still claimed that “You have people on both sides of that. They admitted their guilt,” suggesting that he still stands by his misdirected persecution against the Central Park 5, even now, despite their innocence.
https://www.history.com/topics/1980s/central-park-five
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/6/18/18684217/trump-central-park-5-netflix
https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-48609693
Micheal Milken: The Junk Bond King
Micheal Milken was only in his 20s at graduate school when he came up with the idea which would revolutionize the world of finance, and change it forever. Milken had discovered the great potential in what is called a "Junk bond". But what are Junk bonds? Junk bonds, also known as high-yield bonds, are bonds that are rated below investment grade. The bonds are rated lowly because they have a very high risk of default, but with this risk comes a much higher profit, if said bond is successful.
After Milken graduated, he joined a small investment firm called Drexel Burnham Lambert. After gaining some influence within the company, Milken proposed the idea of persuading smaller companies to create junk bonds which would be underwritten by Drexel Burnham. Once this was accomplished, Milken took it to the next level by using the securities he acquired from underwriting the junk bonds, to finance the takeovers of numerous corporate raiders, such as T. Boone Pickens, and the investment firm, Texas Pacific Group. This tactic proved to be so successful that Milken was given the nickname "The Junk Bond King". Under Milken's supervision, Drexel Burnham grew to be one of the most powerful firms in Finance.
But even after all of this success, Milken wasn't satisfied. He began committing many white-collar crimes along with fellow finance genius Ivan Boesky. Milken would supply Boesky with capital and insider information, which Boesky would use to manipulate takeover bids and stocks. While this created a lot of wealth for the men, it came to an end when Boesky was charged with insider trading. Boesky settled for a plea deal in which he would have to pay a whopping 100 million dollars in fines along with becoming an informant. This was bad news for Milken as Boesky exposed the crimes both men had committed. This led to a rabbit hole in which many more crimes of Milken were exposed. Milken was charged with racketeering and securities fraud and fined a total of 600 million dollars. He was also sentenced to 10 years in jail but only ended up in jail for 2.
Despite his 600 million dollar loss, Milken still had a fortune, which he used to fund the Milken Family Foundation which worked with hundreds of philanthropist groups around the world. Now Milken participates in many non-profit organizations and has changed his image from Wall Street's biggest crook to a former criminal who has arguably more than repaid the bad he has done with good.
Sources:
http://www.sechistorical.org/museum/galleries/wwr/wwr05d-markets-milken.php
https://money.howstuffworks.com/personal-finance/financial-planning/junk-bond1.htm
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/h/high_yield_bond.asp
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/michaelmilken.asp
https://www.businessinsider.com/michael-milken-life-story-2017-5
Rise of the Jumbojets
The 1970s marked a change for aviation, with the introduction of widebody jets making flying more affordable and accessible to the general population.
The American company Boeing was already successful in the commercial aviation market throughout the late 1960s with its 707 and 727 narrow body aircraft, but was pushing to create a widebody (meaning airplanes with more than a single isle) commercial aircraft that would cross oceans and continents while carrying twice as many passengers.
Competitors to the 747 soon entered the market: the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 and the Lockheed-1011 TriStar. Both were trijets (3 engines, with the third engine stuck in the tail of the airplane. Having two engines, which were less powerful than present day jet engines, would not be enough to power the widebody jets.) The TriStar made the world’s first transcontinental fully automatic flight. The DC-10 and the TriStar provided the demand for smaller yet efficient airplanes, leaving the 747 as the preferred plane for long transcontinental flights.
Overall, the introduction of the widebody made flying accessible for millions of people who previously could not afford it. With flights becoming more frequent, airlines updated liveries and developed new uniforms for the flight crew, reflecting fashion trends from the decade. New engine and soundproofing designs made flying more comfortable and relaxing; flights in the 70s began to resemble the modern flying experience. Tourism and international business flourished as well as other industries, and airlines began making profit from the new steady flow of customers. The 70s revolutionized the air travel industry and made the world a smaller place for working class people.
Sources: https://airandspace.si.edu/exhibitions/america-by-air/online/jetage/jetage06.cfm
https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/aviation-international-news/2008-08-04/century-review-1970s
https://simpleflying.com/1970s-widebody-aircraft/
https://www.flysfo.com/media/press-releases/widebody-launch-jumbojets-early-1970s
https://www.airlinerspotter.com/mcdonnell-douglas-dc10-md10-md11-spotting-guide.htm
https://www.sfomuseum.org/exhibitions/fashion-flight-airline-uniform-design/detail#2
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/32/Pan_American_World_Airways_Boeing_747_N750PA_01.jpg
The American company Boeing was already successful in the commercial aviation market throughout the late 1960s with its 707 and 727 narrow body aircraft, but was pushing to create a widebody (meaning airplanes with more than a single isle) commercial aircraft that would cross oceans and continents while carrying twice as many passengers.
The Boeing 747 entered service in January of 1970 with Pan American World Airways, powered by 4 high-bypass turbofan engines (more fan thrust than jet thrust) revolutionizing long range aviation and launching the age of widebody jets, or “jumbo jets”. Seating 400 passengers, it significantly cut down seat-mile costs, making it the cheapest airplane to service and fly in the industry despite its large size.
 |
| Boeing 747 |
Competitors to the 747 soon entered the market: the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 and the Lockheed-1011 TriStar. Both were trijets (3 engines, with the third engine stuck in the tail of the airplane. Having two engines, which were less powerful than present day jet engines, would not be enough to power the widebody jets.) The TriStar made the world’s first transcontinental fully automatic flight. The DC-10 and the TriStar provided the demand for smaller yet efficient airplanes, leaving the 747 as the preferred plane for long transcontinental flights.
 |
| McDonnell Douglas DC-10 |
 |
| L1011 TriStar |
 |
| 70s uniform |
Overall, the introduction of the widebody made flying accessible for millions of people who previously could not afford it. With flights becoming more frequent, airlines updated liveries and developed new uniforms for the flight crew, reflecting fashion trends from the decade. New engine and soundproofing designs made flying more comfortable and relaxing; flights in the 70s began to resemble the modern flying experience. Tourism and international business flourished as well as other industries, and airlines began making profit from the new steady flow of customers. The 70s revolutionized the air travel industry and made the world a smaller place for working class people.
Sources: https://airandspace.si.edu/exhibitions/america-by-air/online/jetage/jetage06.cfm
https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/aviation-international-news/2008-08-04/century-review-1970s
https://simpleflying.com/1970s-widebody-aircraft/
https://www.flysfo.com/media/press-releases/widebody-launch-jumbojets-early-1970s
https://www.airlinerspotter.com/mcdonnell-douglas-dc10-md10-md11-spotting-guide.htm
https://www.sfomuseum.org/exhibitions/fashion-flight-airline-uniform-design/detail#2
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/32/Pan_American_World_Airways_Boeing_747_N750PA_01.jpg
Ivan Boesky and Insider Trading
Insider trading is making trade of stock based on information that's not available to the general public. Most insider information is only 'material' if it would affect the company's stock price such as a pending merger, a positive earnings report, or the release of a new product. Insider trading is illegal because it gives the insider and unfair advantage in the market at the cost of others. It also allows them to artificially influence the value of a company's stock such that the price no longer reflects the actual value of the company.One famous case of insider trading was Ivan Boesky. Who, in 1975, launched his own arbitrage business called Ivan Boesky and Company. Arbitrage is the act of buying low and selling high as to exploit the gap between the producer and consumer. In his case, Ivan used the gap between public and private market values to raid corporate targets. He used connections and securities within various companies to guide his significant purchases just days before information was released to the public. Companies that were taken over would allow substantial returns on Boesky's information.
Although this practice was illegal, the SEC rarely enforced it, until Boesky that is. Once the SEC saw how much money Boesky was making by exploiting the information gap between corporate raids and the public, they started enforcing harsher laws on insider trading. In 1986 Boesky was found guilty of manipulating securities and received 3 and a half years of prison, a $100 million fine, and a permanent ban from working in the securities industry.
Boesky, and other insiders at the time exemplified the excess and greed on Wall Street during the 1980s. From this scandal many Americans started to question whether or not greed was good.
Sources:
https://www.thebalance.com/what-is-insider-trading-and-why-is-it-illegal-356337
https://www.hg.org/legal-articles/what-is-insider-trading-and-why-is-it-illegal-31598
https://www.businessinsider.com/meet-ivan-boesky-the-infamous-wall-streeter-who-inspired-gordon-gecko-2012-7#the-boeskys-moved-into-one-of-the-most-expensive-homes-in-westchester-5
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ivan-Boesky
The 1980s: Best Decade of Movies Ever
The 1980s was arguably one of the best decades for movies. Ever. If it's not the best, it is definitely high in the rankings. Film in the 80s had its highs and lows, but all in all, its impact was everlasting.
Many films that we consider classics today were from the 80s. But what's interesting is that some of them weren't the most popular back then. For example, The Shining, who many today consider to be a classic horror film, got trashed by critics when it first opened in 1980. All it took was a little time for people to realize its greatness.
However, there are also some classics from the 80s that were instant blockbusters, and still are. Both Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars: Return of the Jedi were smash hits, the Indiana Jones series rose in popularity, and E.T. was the highlight of the summer of 1982.
Watching movies at home became popular for the first time in history in 1983, and Raiders of the Lost Ark sold $20 million worth of VHS tapes. However, this led to problems with piracy because video cassettes became very easy to duplicate.
The film industry hit a bump in the road in the middle of the decade, but whether it was good or bad depends on personal opinion. Financially, 1985 was the worst year for box offices since 1968. Critics believed that the problem was due to an overabundance of "teen movies." Most of the dozens of teenage flicks during the year were flops, with the exception of The Breakfast Club.
On the other hand, some people argue that 1985 was the last great year of film for kids and young adults because of all those "teen movies." Nowadays, kids and young adult movies are all either animated, an adaption of an angsty young adult novel, or part of a billion dollar superhero franchise. While these are all great, they don't compare to the movies produced in the 1980s.
1986 was just as big of a disappointment as 1985. All of the movies became predictable because of the lack of technological advancement in the film industry. The only new technique was colorization, but that was a huge controversy. Some companies re-released old movies in color, but other filmmakers called it "cultural butchery" and urged the public to boycott these releases.
The film industry bounced back in 1987 with broken box office records and an increasing number of rentals. For the rest of the decade, movies like Dirty Dancing, Rain Man, Die Hard, and Driving Miss Daisy were wildly popular. Although the film industry was a rollercoaster in the 1980s, it was actually extremely successful when looking back on it in its entirety.
Sources:
https://www.retrowaste.com/1980s/movies-in-the-1980s/
https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/03/why-the-1980s-is-the-last-great-decade-in-youth-films/385295/
However, there are also some classics from the 80s that were instant blockbusters, and still are. Both Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars: Return of the Jedi were smash hits, the Indiana Jones series rose in popularity, and E.T. was the highlight of the summer of 1982.
Watching movies at home became popular for the first time in history in 1983, and Raiders of the Lost Ark sold $20 million worth of VHS tapes. However, this led to problems with piracy because video cassettes became very easy to duplicate.
On the other hand, some people argue that 1985 was the last great year of film for kids and young adults because of all those "teen movies." Nowadays, kids and young adult movies are all either animated, an adaption of an angsty young adult novel, or part of a billion dollar superhero franchise. While these are all great, they don't compare to the movies produced in the 1980s.
1986 was just as big of a disappointment as 1985. All of the movies became predictable because of the lack of technological advancement in the film industry. The only new technique was colorization, but that was a huge controversy. Some companies re-released old movies in color, but other filmmakers called it "cultural butchery" and urged the public to boycott these releases.
The film industry bounced back in 1987 with broken box office records and an increasing number of rentals. For the rest of the decade, movies like Dirty Dancing, Rain Man, Die Hard, and Driving Miss Daisy were wildly popular. Although the film industry was a rollercoaster in the 1980s, it was actually extremely successful when looking back on it in its entirety.
Sources:
https://www.retrowaste.com/1980s/movies-in-the-1980s/
https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/03/why-the-1980s-is-the-last-great-decade-in-youth-films/385295/
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