The TV Cabinet (In Their Own Words) #2

By Archer D’Angelo

The Terrapin Times has decided to embark upon the task of explaining the members of Donald Trump’s Cabinet in a digestible way by and for the students of Brooklyn Independent. This is the product of this project, our dissection of  Trump’s cabinet, or as I call it, due to its large percentage of television personalities, the “TV Cabinet.” We will be explaining the members of This Cabinet by showcasing their own words and quotes, to truly understand their thought processes.

Elon Musk

Elon Musk, he is not new to the American public, nor is he to anyone following American Politics, but he is certainly a new and important member of the American Government. We all know Elon as the strange, video game-loving  billionaire from South Africa who has, at points, led Paypal, SpaceX, Tesla, OpenAI (ChatGPT & DALL-E), and Neuralink (the Brain Chip one). We also know him, most recently, as the man who bought Twitter, laid off most of its employees, renamed it to “X” and, for the most part, ruined its public reputation. However, the X incident has been largely overshadowed by his involvement in politics. Over his career, Elon has supported various libertarian and conservative causes along with various conspiracy theories, just as much as he has supported Cryptocurrency and Mars Colonization. Recently however, he has become a vocal supporter of Trump, a member of his administration, and a notably Far-Right politician.

——————————————————————-

I have decided to do this one in a different style from the Previous entry. I have realized Elon does not have many quotes from interviews that are particularly strange, however he does have tweets (Or X’s as he calls them). I’d start it with his most famous tweet, his first tweet after buying Twitter:

      “Entering Twitter HQ – let that sink in!” (Attached photo above)

  Yes, he brought a real sink, and if you follow him in any way you know that he will not let anyone forget that. I try to go by factual information but this is one of the corniest jokes I have ever had to have heard in my life. This is a man with the power of a pseudo-Vice President making sink puns after BUYING TWITTER and then proceeding to make it significantly worse. I noted previously that he is a member of the current administration, but It should be noted that he has been given access to all government files, given an office in the White House complex, and even gotten in Trump’s family photos. Take everything forward with the express knowledge of these things as you read.

——————————————————————-

On a more weird-rich-boy note, he made an interesting statement on his platform, Twitter, a few days after buying it. He made a statement easily able to drive a stake through the heart of any good citizen of Georgia.

“Next I’m buying Coca-Cola to put the cocaine back in”

I shouldn’t even have to explain this one. It’s kinda funny, but yet again he probably has the power to actually do this. With his current level of power there’s a non-zero chance that he does have the power to seize Coca-Cola and publicly put Cocaine in it.

——————————————————————-

Lastly, I am going to cover a more covered event, Adrian Dittman. “Adrian” is allegedly a Twitter account held by a “fan” of Elon Musk who “officially” is not Elon himself (even though he did technically admit in an Iron Man reference but still kept posting on that account). I believe that Adrian is Elon but as that is not proven I will show some of Adrian’s Tweets. 

To Elon posting a photo of him giving his son X Æ A-Xii Musk, a piggyback ride “Adrian Dittmann” responded

“You’re an amazing father, Elon.

Your kids are very lucky to have you.”

Elon MAY have called himself an amazing father. If Adrian is Elon that is quite a sad realization that he still has to back himself up on the internet while being a Pseudo-Vice President and the richest man alive.

——————————————————————-

As the great writer, revolutionary and controversialist, Thomas Paine said in a time of crisis, not wildly unlike this time of ourselves, “These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.” Here we see not even a “Sunshine Patriot” of Paine’s word but an Oligarch and a Billionaire dominating our politics and a man who cares only for his personal reputation and wealth with a notably horrible sense of humor. However, in these trying times, it is a better time than any for people of true decency, capable of good leadership, to rise and fight back against the absurdly odd persons attempting to hold control over this country.

A Turkish Breakfast, Explained

By Ben Rosenblum

Welcome back to my series of articles about meals around the world. Today we are going to be talking about Turkish breakfast also known as kahvaltı, meaning “before coffee” in Turkish. As you can see below Khavalti is  very different from western breakfasts featuring foods such as Simit. Simit is a circular bread with poppy seeds and is good in coffee.

A Burek is a pastry with filling such as meats and cheeses and much more.

A typical breakfast will also contain Çılbır, a dish of poached eggs and yogurt which I have had and it is very good.

It would not be a proper breakfast without Turkish tea, a valued tradition among Turkish people. A Turkish breakfast is a great cultural icon and you should try some if you ever get the option.    

An English Breakfast, Explained

By Ben Rosenblum

Hi, if you have stopped to look at this article you are probably wondering how I could explain an English breakfast . Even though I do not come from Britain I consider an English Breakfast to be the best one. It’s composed of: sausages, eggs, toast, baked beans, hash browns, a mushroom, a tomato, and a glass of tea, coffee, or OJ. If this  sounds appetizing you’d be right because it is very good. Now it might surprise you to learn that 12 countries have contributed to making the English breakfast. So, without further ado, let’s dive in!

Let’s imagine I wake up in the morning in Britain and want to make a delicious English breakfast. First I would start frying my sausages and eggs which come from the UK (1) in Italian olive oil (2). Then I would get my Irish grown mushroom (3) and tomato from the Netherlands (4)  then heat my baked beans from the U.S.(5) and cook my hash browns made from Belgian  potatoes (6). Next I got my bread made from German wheat (7) and toast before spreading it with Danish  butter (8). As for the drinks I might choose OJ made from Moroccan oranges (9), or perhaps some Guatemalan coffee  (10) and even the stereotypical tea could be plucked from Chinese tea fields (11) and given a liberal serving of French-grown sugar (12).


I hope that this has gotten you thinking about how we import food overseas and see ya next time. Note: This is one way to get to 12 countries and not all countries mentioned are the biggest exporters of the goods mentioned in their name.

Credit to a youtube video called : A Not-So-English Breakfast by creator Half-Asleep Chris.

America’s Exploits Part 1

By Archer D’Angelo

Hello It is Archer D’Angelo. If you don’t know already, as all countries do, Americans have done some weird things. Today I am gonna tell you about possibly the strangest of these events, being the Dictator of the State of Louisiana in the 1930s, and be prepared for future articles where I will talk about a Crazy Admiral, George Washington leading an army along with the actual biological Father of the Confederate General Robert E. Lee and Alexander Hamilton, The Treasury Secretary to fight TAX EVASION yes Tax Evasion, then Aaron Burr, The Vice President who possibly tried to steal Texas, and an arguably mentally insane man who was Vice President for 2 Presidents (Yes 2 Presidents made him Vice), by the name of John C. Calhoun.

Let us start with the Louisiana Dictator today (This Is My Personal Favorite Story). You and everybody else knows that type of villain who is definitely evil but is REALLY bad at their job like the Wet (Or Sticky If You Get That Reference) Bandits from Home Alone for example. Insert today’s villain, Huey Long, Who was the actual Dictator of Louisiana in 1928-1935. The Senator and Governor, Huey Pierce Long was born August 30th 1893 to a middle-class family in North-West Louisiana. However he claimed to be born in a log cabin even though there is extensive evidence that is not true coming from EVERY SINGLE person that knew his family.

Huey Long

There is something you need to know about Huey Long, Huey was NOT a good person he was arguably a bad person. But in every other modern circumstance when a bad person is given immense power they make life worse for the area they control and make THEIR OWN life better. But this is not the case with Huey Long because he, while being VERY power hungry, and (Probably) racist, but also he did  in the eyes of many (I’m personally not so sure of this, but I’m not from Louisiana) make his home, Louisiana a better place. I would like to note again that I do not like Long as a person and I do not have much respect for him, if at all but he did do some interesting things that I would like to cover from a neutral point of view.

The North-West Louisiana town Huey Long was from was known as Winnfield. The town was the town with the most Union/Anti-Slavery support in all Louisiana. This led to Long gaining some left-wing ideas. Huey Long was a very smart child and skipped 7th Grade. He was a supporter of the Socialist Party, a Left-Wing Communist party from the midwest as a teenager. Also Huey started a “Secret Society” as he called it in his school which was effectively a secret dictatorship of high school students that made their own rules and petitions who gained so much power they PETITIONED THE PRINCIPLE OUT OF THE SCHOOL. Huey Long was basically what every student president dreams to be.

Huey Long went to LSU to study law but later had to drop out of school as he couldn’t afford it but in his short stay he wrote the “LSU Cadets March” and the “LSU Touchdown Anthem” as he was seemingly a great songwriter as he made himself an actual Theme Song when he was doing the “Share Our Wealth” program in the 1930s. After leaving LSU he went to Oklahoma Baptist and got his Law Degree. He then became a lawyer from 1915 to 1925 where among other things he fought against the Rockefeller Standard Oil Company and became the Railroad commissioner of Louisiana while continuing his job as a lawyer.

In 1924 he ran for governor and began to show some right-wing tendencies by (allegedly) saying some, well lets just say “choice words” about the Confederacy that in modern times would cause some “CANCELING”. Then he said that he had “no opinion” on the K.K.K. which is a strange stance as they were a huge organization in 1920s Louisiana and that would also very much get you canceled. Huey lost and blamed it on a rainstorm that “my voters were stuck in the mud and couldn’t vote”. But for anyone wondering, Huey never was to lose an election again. 

In 1928 Huey ran for Governor again but this time he ran even more neutral than the previous election and he was to become the “Louisiana Dictator”. At the time Louisiana was in a massive divide between the poor rural people and the Rich Citizens of New Orleans. The poor rural people did not have electricity, running water or even roads and if they wanted them they had to get them through private companies. Also even before the great depression, 60% of Louisiana was in poverty. Huey started his administration like any other governor, by firing the old cabinet and getting a new one. But Huey’s cabinet consisted of his own literal minions who worked only for him and directly for him and even had to give HIM Money for his personal schemes in his “War Chest” he also with his squad of supporters blackmailed and intimidated his way into passing bills making himself basically dictator.

Now Huey was firmly in charge for as long as he wanted to so he stopped being so neutral and got to work. Everyone was thinking “Oh no, Huey Long is a dictator, is he gonna Execute People, Use Forced Labor??” and they were right to think that as Huey was not a very nice seeming guy. But then his first new law was…….. banning paid textbooks in elementary school (YES Elementary). Well maybe his second one was worse….he made free night lessons for people who are illiterate. Third one… he built roads, hospitals, bridges, and gave cheap gas to his ENEMIES in New Orleans. HUEY PLEASE DO SOMETHING EVIL!!! How can someone make themselves a dictator, get an army of supporters who will fight for you, AND THEN DO NOTHING EVIL. But then his Enemies tried to impeach him for well.. being a dictator and he responded by probably killing them, right……. WAIT HE JUST WROTE NEWSPAPER ARTICLES AND EVEN LET THEM KEEP THEIR JOBS!!!

Then Huey announced his new plans, He was stepping down and running for senate. But he was not losing power as he won BOTH SENATE SEATS, which technically made him two senators in one person. But he did leave one of his minions as Governor and did not move out of the Governor’s Mansion or even the Governor’s office within the Capitol (Which he Rebuilt).

In 1932 the Great Depression had hit Huey and Louisiana. Huey Long was a staunch supporter of FDR and especially his “New Deal”. But Huey thought that FDR should take his ideas a little farther and a bit more Socialist (Or Communist).

Then we get to his crowning achievement, the “Share Our Wealth” program which he proposed in both the U.S. Senate and Louisiana. Huey (While being a Socialist) was incredibly worried about a Communist Revolution in the United States. He thought the only way to satisfy them was a program HE had PERSONALLY made that definitely did not just expand his personal plans, the “Share Our Wealth Program”. The Program planned to redistribute the wealth in America and make it so everyone could get a $5,000 House ($86,000 in 2023), a Car, and a good quality Radio. He planned to do this by Capping all forms of Income and adding many (Like A LOT) more taxes. 7.5 Million Americans signed on to “Share Our Wealth” and many started “Share Our Wealth” clubs to try it out. While his enemies called it Communism (Which it probably was), He said it was the only defense AGAINST Communism. Meanwhile the actual Socialist and Communist Parties saw it as TOO extreme, even for them. Huey quickly became a worldwide icon and each time he went on radio he had upwards of 25 Million listeners. He also received 60,000 Letters each WEEK, more than any other person alive at the time. Also FDR’s 2nd New Deal took inspiration from “Share Our Wealth.

In fact Huey Long planned to challenge FDR in the Election of 1936, but in September 1935 his enemies decided to try and finally get him out of power when a local Physician, Carl Weiss shot Huey in the State Capital. Huey uttered the words “God, don’t let me die. I have so much to do.” and seconds later he passed away. Carl Weiss was killed quickly by Huey’s bodyguards.

Carl Weiss

That was the story of Governor Huey Pierce Long, his rise to power and his quick fall to Dr. Weiss at the State House. Huey was a strange figure and I will leave it to you to decide if he was truly a good person.

——————————————————————————————————————

History Of The World Cup

By Jaiden Johnson

  The World Cup is a soccer competition where many countries from the world compete to win the world cup. The first world cup was in 1930, and the winner was 

Uruguay.

Now it’s 2022 and the world cup still needs to be finished. Let’s ask people who are going to win the 2022 world cup. 

Eli: “Uh… Brazil.

Judah: “Uh… Portugal”

Dash: “Probably Argentina or Brazil.”

Nadal: “I don’t know, probably France.”

  Most people are brilliant at predicting the future, but AI could be better. Lets pick our AI bot named Kashef. Kashef’s prediction on Round of 16, December 3 is that Argentina will win, 3:2. Back to the history of the world cup, the rules of the world cup were that there were 32 teams divided into 8 groups of four. In the first opening stage, each team plays all the other teams in its group once. The top 2 teams in each group advance to the round of 16. After that, it is a knockout tournament. Multiple teams have more than 1 World Cup. The first 2 are France and Argentina, with both 2 titles. France, in 1998, Zidane got a brace with Emmanuel Petit also scoring a 3-0 win over Brazil. Argentina, in 2018, Mbappe was on target in France’s 4-2 success against Croatia in Russia. In Argentina in 1978, Mario Kempes scored twice for Argentina and Daniel Bertoni also netted in a 3-1 win against the Netherlands. In 1986, Argentina beat West Germany 3-2 in an enthralling final as Jorge Burruchaga got the winner. All the way up to Germany, they have reached 4 titles. In 1990, A penalty from Andy Brehme beat Argentina 1-0. In 1974, Gerd Muller was the MVP as West Germany won 2-1 against the Netherlands. In 1954, Helmut Rahn got the winner for West Germany as they beat Hungary 3-2. Finally, in 2014, Mario Gotze scored and won for Germany. And finally with 5 titles, Brazil. In 1958, Pele scored and Sweden lost. In 1962, Brazil beat Czechoslovakia in the final. In 1970, Pele scored again and beat Italy 4-1. 1994, Brazil beat Italy again on penalties. And in 2002, Ronaldo (Luis Nazario de Lima) scored twice and beat Germany in Japan. Many countries have won world cups, but who has failed the most in the World Cup? The worst competitor in the 2022 World Cup with 0 wins, is not surprisingly Qatar. 

Thanks for reading, and have a fun time watching the world cup.

——————————————————————————————————————

History Of The Now Semi-Invaded Nation Of Ukraine Part 1

By Archer D’Angelo

Hello It is Archer D’Angelo. If you want to know the history of Ukraine, as it’s been in the news so much recently you have come to the right place, also check out my “Ukrainian Situation Series” Starting soon! This is Part #1 of this series going from the 7th Century BC To the Mongols!

The Early Eras

Old Great Bulgaria

Early Ukrainian history started with the Ancient Greeks who in the 7th Century BC set up colonies along the Black Sea. Later as the Greek City States got gobbled by the Romans these colonies were taken,they later formed up the Bosphorus Kingdom, a vassal to the Romans. Also in this era the Old Bulgarian Empire was formed which existed in the south of Ukraine and the Non-Roman part of Crimea, but in 668 they were forced out by a horde known as the Khazars who you will learn about later.

The Keivan Rus And Golden Age Of Kiev

Keivan Rus

In 862 A Viking Prince by the name of “Rurik The Great” Came Into Modern Day Finland and began to conquer much of Eastern Europe. After he conquered Kiev he declared the Grand Principality of the Keivan Rus. The Kievan Rus were very different from the nations with Viking roots as they were based on trade instead of well, conquering and other incredibly violent things. 70 years after Rurik, Another member of the Rurikid Dynasty, Grand Prince Sviatoslav I expanded the Rus to control much of modern Ukraine. Sviatoslav acquired the land from a war against the Jewish Horde of the Khazars (Seriously there was like a Mongol Or Hunnic style horde that was actually Jewish!). Then we get to the 2nd most famous Kievan leader “Vladimir The Great ” He converted from the Norse Pagan Gods to Russian Orthodox Christanity and then decreed that all citizens must do the same. The Kievan Rus reached its max size under “Yaroslav The Wise” and he also wrote the “Russkaya Pravda” the most famous piece of Keivan literature and the constitution of the Rus. But after Yaroslav the Rus began its decline. The decline of their closest ally the Byzantine (Late Roman) Empire which would economically damage the Rus. Then the final nail in the coffin was the Mongol Invasions where after the failed Kievan sneak attack at Kalka River, Genghis Khan ordered the destruction of the Keivan Rus and it quickly fell with Kiev itself being destroyed by the Mongols who burned the city. 

————————————————————————

The History of Ukraine Part 2

By Archer D’Angelo

Hello It is Archer D’Angelo. If you want to know the history of Ukraine, as it’s been in the news so much recently you have come to the right place, also check out my “Ukrainian Situation Series” Starting soon! This is Part #2 of this series going from The Mongols to the Annexation by the Russian Empire!

Lithuanians, Poles, And Cossacks

During the 14th century, Poland and Lithuania fought back against the Mongol invaders, and after these conflicts eventually most of Ukraine passed to the rule of Poland and Lithuania. More particularly, the north-west corner of Ukraine became part of Poland. The King of Poland adopted the title of “High Lord and heir of Ruthenia” (Ruthenia is the Ancient Roman name for Ukraine). Lithuania took control of the rest including Kyiv following the decisive Lithuanian Victory at the Battle of The Blue Waters (1362/63), and the Grand Duke of Lithuania then adopted the title of “Grand Prince of The Kievan Rus”(Grand Duchy Of Lithuania Map Below). 

Grand Duchy Of Lithuania

        Also in 1441 in a  very similar area to the State Of Old Great Bulgaria Islamic Crimean Khanate Declared independence from the Mongol Golden Horde and they would stay independent until their conquest by the Ottoman Empire in the 1470s. Also the Italian City State Of Genoa founded some colonies on the Crimean coast (Map Below) until the 1470s Ottoman conquest.

Republic Of Genoa

Also some Lithuanian aristocrats who settled in Ukraine made many Ukrainians into serfs, or farmers who had to work on land that they did not own. Then in 1569 the Union of Lublin was established Uniting possibly the strongest alliances in all of European history between Poland and Lithuania into a unified nation and one of the strongest in Europe, The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (Map on Right). 

Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

Also for many years dating back to the Keivan Rus there were Nomadic Peoples called the Cossacks who were a considerable amount (About 25 Percent) of The Ukrainian population. In 1648 after almost 100 years of Polish-Lithuanian rule the Cossacks led a fight against their rule. The Cossacks asked Russia to help them defeat the Poles. The Cossacks won independence from Poland, but their new state soon became annexed by Tzar Alexis I and became part of the Russian Empire. Starting a 340 year period of Russian and later Soviet Rule.

——————————————————————————————————————

History Of Ukraine Part 3

By Archer D’Angelo

Hello It is Archer D’Angelo. If you want to know the history of Ukraine, as it’s been in the news so much recently you have come to the right place, also check out my “Ukrainian Situation Series” Starting soon! This is Part #3 of this series going from Fall Of the Cossacks to The End Of World War II!

Swedish Empire

Russian Control

The Cossacks Had gone into hiding as Bandits and Mercenaries as Russia took full control of the Eastern half of Ukraine. The Eastern Ukrainian People were forced to work as second class to the Russian People under direct orders from the Czar. But In 1708 the Hetmanate reformed siding with the Swedish Empire (Map Right) in The Great Northern War which due to the pure Swedish Incompetence (It was definitely not the Cossacks Fault) led to a solid one and a half years of existence that ended at the decisive defeat to Czar Peter Romanov (Also Known as Peter The Great) of the Russian Empire at The Battle Of Poltava (1709). After Poltava the Cossacks were destroyed by Peter’s Streltsy. After that the Ukranians were further assimilated through a process known as “Russification” by the Romanovs. 

Partitions Of The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

Meanwhile Western Ukraine was under the increasingly unstable while peaceful Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth. But in 1763 the Russian aligned Stanislaw Poniatowski was Elected the Grand Duke Of Poland-Lithuania. Poniatowski was a Liberal Ruler embracing the Ideals of the Enlightenment. But with these moves he made the lives of his citizens much better but strayed away from his old and more powerful friends who thought they were controlling him, the Russian Czardom. In 1772 They demanded they must end the Reforms or be partitioned between the Russians, Prussians, And Austrians and Stanislaw decided to stand and fight. The First Partition War of Poland was an Utter failure with much of eastern Ukraine being ceded to the Russians. Now with Ukraine almost united as a Russian territory and the chaos of the American and later French Revolution in the west kept the Russians Busy. But in 1792 Stanislaus decided to do just a little more reform and Russia yet again invaded this time taking Warsaw and then Partitioning Ukraine into Russia while Galicia (South-West Ukraine) went to Austria. Now Ukraine was basically Unified under Russia. But If you were wondering how the at that point tiny nation of Poland ended up well Tadeusz Kościuszko a veteran of the American Revolution, Strong Abolitionist against Slavery and Close Friend of Thomas Jefferson, Decided to try and reclaim the old Polish Territories. But in a decisive ambush in 1795 the elderly General Alexander Suvorov captured Kościuszko and Dissolved the Poland Lithuania Commonwealth. Making basically all Of Ukraine Russian. And Unifying the East and West of Ukraine in a way that it hadn’t been really since The Grand Duchy Of Lithuania.

Full Size Of The Russian Empire

In the 1800s Ukraine was very much Russian and began to industrialize as a completely Russian state. The Ukrainians kept their language but they were in the mind of others just a part of the Russian Empire. During WW1 3.5 Million Ukrainians fought on both the Russian and Austrian side. With many battles being Austrian Ukrainian Vs Russian Ukrainian. But by 1917 Russia was collapsing to Communists and Democrats alike. Ukraine took advantage of this by declaring independence and joining with the Germans. But after Germany surrendered The Soviet Union under Lenin Conquered Ukraine. 

 The Soviets put in new economic development into Ukraine but then Stalin said in a act of Genocide they had to make grain for the entirety of Russia before they could use it themselves leading to a Famine that killed 5 Million Ukrainians.Before World War II in 1939 The German Reich was allied with the Soviets in something called the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and together they invaded Poland which actually included Galicia, the part of Ukraine given to Austria during the Polish Partitions. And for the first time since the Kievan Rus, Ukraine was Unified. But 3 Years Later in 1941 Germany ended the Pact in Operation Barbarossa and Germany declared war on the Soviets. They quickly Encircled Kiev capturing 600,000 Soldiers in a blitzkrieg. Ukraine was made into the state of the Reichskommissariat Ukraine. Under German occupation many of the Jews were sent to concentration camps in the Halocaust 600,000 Ukrainian Jews were murdered. It was an atrocity that still affects Europe to this day. Ukraine was a hotspot of Jews since the Kievan Rus and during the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Early Polish-Lithuanian period there was a Jewish Golden age in Ukraine. Nowadays however Ukraine has barely any Jews and this is mainly due to the Halocaust. Also the Reich basically made the Ukrainians into slaves under the German Reich. In 1945 the Soviets won the war and retook Ukraine but Ukraine was in ruin.