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Friday June 16, 2006 5:30 am Lethbridge Alberta
A. Morning Musings
5:30 am The temperature is + 11 C with a high forecast of + 21. The rain is supposed to ease up today and become light showers. It is going to take a few days for the ground to dry up and work continue in the yard.
Allan sent a news release about new Apple software that indicates that one can now toggle between Windows and OS X with one click. That is a huge improvement over having to shut down and reboot to accomplish the switch. The Mac Powerbook Pro is now looking pretty good.
I have finally updated the following table to reflect the fact that yard work is on hold for a few days.
B. Plan
Immediate Health Walk & exercise 1 hr Model Trains Add blue backdrop to layout 2 hr History Continue reading "Citizens" 2 hr Literature Continue reading "A Dream of Eagles: The Singing Sword" 1 hr Mathematics Gardner "The Colossal Book of Short Puzzles" 1 hr Later Chores Rent tamper from Ward's rentals for tamping sidewalk base Apply parging to front basement wall Buy sand and lay on foundation Buy patio bricks and install Buy sealant for join between garage floor and wall Buy muriatic acid for removing mortar from blocks Clean mortar from cement blocks in rear fence Take 5th wheel in for maintenance 2 hr Investigate water softeners for home 2 hr Paint door frame white
1 hr Technology Read manual for cell phone 1 hr Technology digital photography try using extender lens and monopod 2 hr Mathematics Larson "Calculus" History Watson "Ideas" Model Trains Review layout for under the table turnouts Wire lower mainline track for a power block Fasten lower mainline track to layout Draw schematic diagram of track layout 2 hr
C. Actual/Notes
6:05 am
I want to bring my online notes up to date with my rough notes for "Citizens". I will try a different color of background (i.e. darker) for the entries I make this session.
1643 - 1715 Louis XIV "the sun king" very popular 1715 - 1774 Louis XV indecisive and unpopular
his fiscal policies became more aggressive following each of his major wars
100 1721 - 1794 Malesherbes In charge of the royal houshold under both Louis XV and Louis XVI. Malesherbes and Turgot were 2 of the most powerful men in France.
He was very popular.
he tried to constrain rather then enforce the authority of absolutism and supported fundamental liberties such as freedom of the press and unfair taxation
100 1700 - 1788 system of "privilege" Privilege was defined as various forms of tax exemption 1700 - 1788 system of "venality" Venality was the sale and purchase of office. This was "more deeply and broadly rooted in France than in any other major power in Europe."
68 1700 - 1788 taxation there was eloquent hatred among all sections of society of the tax collecting apparatus, particularly the Farmers-General. This was a syndicate of men who paid the Treasury a certain sum in return for the right to "farm" (i.e. collect) certain indirect taxes such as for salt and tobacco. 72 1756 - 1763 Seven Years War European counterpart to the war in America between the English and the French 1774 Louis XVI Ascended to the throne at age 19 1774 Vergennes Appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs 1774 Turgot Appointed Controller-General Malesherbes and Turgot were 2 of the most powerful men in France. 1775 Louis XVI Coronation 1775 - 1783 American War of Independence "For France, without any question, the Revolution began in America." 24 1776 - 1783 Vergennes French foreign policy of supporting the American alliance ... while maintaining a strong army in Europe "... the costs of Vergennes global strategy policy brought on the terminal crisis of the French monarchy"
"No other European power attempted to support both a major continental army and a transcontinental navy at the same time."
"More than any inequity in a society based on priviledge, or the violent cycles of famine that visited France in the 1780's, the Revolution was occasioned by these decisions of state."
62 1777 Lafayette Valley Forge USA Lafayette was with Washington at this battle.
Lafayette idolized Washington24 1777 Jacques Necker promoted to Director-General 1778 France enters into treaty relations with the USA 1779 French plans to invade England thwarted by bad weather 1779 Lafayette returns to France Benjamin Franklin promoted the patriot cause on both sides of the Atlantic Talleyrand 1781 Jacques Necker resigns as Director-General 1783 Treaty of Paris Great Britain recognizes the USA 1783 Vergennes cash-flow crisis "So in absolute terms, even after the immense fiscal havoc wrought by the American war, there are few grounds for seeing the scale of the French deficit as necessarily leading to catastrophe. But it was the domestic perception of financial problems, not their reality, that propelled successive French governments from anxiety to alarm to outright panic. The determining elements in the money crisis of the French state, then, were all political and psychological, not institutional or fiscal." 65 1783 - 1788 debt although the French debt was comparable to the British debt, the French deficit was viewed as "royal" while the British was considered "national" 64 1788 - 1799 French Revolution "The causes of the French Revolution were located deep within the structure of the society that preceded it."
It is at the top, rather than in any imaginary middle of French society, that the cultured roots of the revolution should be sought."
The revolution did not create French patriotism, rather it gave the patriotism an opportunity to define itself in terms of 'liberty'."
6
40
1789 Storming of the Bastille
7:40 am Creating these notes involved a blend of reading "Citizens" and googling key names to clarify dates.
The important feature of the above notes is not their existence, but the process of creating them. It is the learner that determines what to include and omit. Practice with this activity helps form a better judgement as to what is important and why.
This was a great way to begin the morning.
10:10 am I have just ordered a 17" MacBook Pro (and an iPod at a discount price). This should arrive next week.
11:30 am I am back from a quick trip to the local model train store. The fellow behind the counter suggested I attend the regular meeting of the Lethbridge Model Train Society on Tuesday evening and I would be able to ask my questions about DCC with people who were familiar with DCC. A great idea! Apparently they have just converted their large layout to DCC.
5:00 PM I finally got back to reading "The Singing Sword" this afternoon.
D. Reflection