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Animal Farm: Pigs and History

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George Orwell’s  Animal Farm  is the most crucial allegorical novella ever written. It approaches the events, conditions, and massive disappointments of the Russian Revolution of 1917. The story starts with the oppressed animals of Manor Farm; a wise and elderly pig named Old Major (a character who is supposed to be a combination of Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin) tells the other animals of a dream he has. All animals can live together in harmony, but they need to rebel against their oppressive owners, such as Mr. Jones (Tsar Nicholas II), who owns Manor Farm. Three pigs named Napoleon (Joseph Stalin), Snowball (Leon Trotsky), and Squealer (Soviet propaganda) adopt the principles into an ideology called Animalism (Marxism). After successfully overthrowing their oppressor by chasing Mr. Jones off the farm, the animals begin the task of building their four-legged utopia in the vision of Old Major. In the immediate aftermath of the revolution, the animals have achieved liberty, equality, an
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Colorado’s Marijuana Legalization in Retrospect

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Samuel R. Caldwell (U.S Industrial Hemp) Marijuana legalization and the policies for implementing successful regulation should be important to Coloradans.  Often times when I’m discussing the topic with people the interest level is usually measured by how much they enjoy smoking pot, which misses the point.  People who don’t actively use marijuana find themselves reticent to discuss the issues.  An easier way to look at the broader societal issues pertaining to marijuana is to view it through the retrospect of history.  This is a conversation that we should all be having. (Disclaimer: I’m not hear for personal health advice and I think you should use as much pot as you want.) What matters to me and, and many other Americans, is that we are no longer throwing people in jail, usually disproportionately African Americans and Hispanics, for possessing pot in Colorado.  To show how far we’ve come on the issue take Samuel R. Caldwell, 58, and Moses Baca, 26, who were arrested by Denv
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Capitalism and Social Benefits

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The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is a $43.5 billion endowment that has made sizable grants over the years in third world countries with the primary concern of addressing health.  Other grants made by the foundation have been aimed at advancing education, agriculture, and finance.  A recent New York Times article explained how the foundation has been making exciting strides by expanding its commitment to direct equity investments, and this is run separately from the foundation itself under what it calls program-related investments. The company recently made a hefty investment of about $52 million dollars in a company called CureVac that is backed by Dietmar Hopp who is co founder of SAP.  According to the article CureVac, "has been developing a technology that uses the biomolecule mRNA to give the body instructions for creating its own proteins to fight cancer and infectious diseases."  The foundation is committed to making sure that is technology is made widely
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The 47 Goons

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Political news in recent days has been dominated by the 47 Republican Senators who sent an open letter to leaders of Iran threatening to not uphold any deal on a nuclear agreement made between Iran and the Republican’s enemy in chief President Obama.  The letter was patronizing and explained to Iran’s leaders how our system of government works (or rather doesn’t work) as if Iran just signed up for Political Science 101 at a local community college. The letter says, “Thus, we are writing to bring to your attention features of our Constitution-the power to make binding international agreements and the different character of federal offices-which you should seriously consider as negotiations progress.”  It goes on to stress the importance of the role of Congress in ratifying international agreements that the president negotiates.    The letter continues with, “We will consider any agreement regarding your nuclear weapons that is not approved by the Congress as nothing more than
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A Visit to Berkeley

Recently I had the pleasure of visiting Berkeley, California.  This adventure was undertaken by myself, which is the ideal way to travel.  First, I landed at San Francisco International Airport and ended up taking the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) to Union Square.  While moving through Union Square with an obstructing black backpack hanging off my right shoulder, I observed a beautifully diverse city.  I then caught a cab and told the driver to take me to the most cliche tourist destination imaginable, Fisherman’s Wharf.  To my pleasant surprise however, I had a great time at Fisherman’s Wharf.  The views were abundant and spectacular when standing on the pier.  You could see the Bay Bridge, Golden Gate Bridge, the East side of the Bay which includes Berkeley and Oakland, and you could clearly see Alcatraz.  I didn’t take the fairy out to the infamous uninhabited prison but I instead remember standing in amazement and ironically thinking to myself, “This is the most beautiful prison I
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