Tag: 1970’s

The Craft of Venetian Mask Manufacturing for the Italian Festival of Carnival

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Masks have been part of Venetian culture since at least the 12th century A.D. as it was in 1162 that the first Carnival festival occured, a city wide celebration which marks the period prior to Lent. Up until 500 years ago, classic Venetian masks were constructed of papier-mâché, a medium that some Venetian mask artists still utilize during the modern day. Strips of papier-mâché are laid into a mold made of resin and layer by layer they are covered in glue. All materials are designed to be non-toxic. When a mask is complete, artisans use scalpel blades to cut out the eyes and any rough pieces remaining (e.g. edges etc.). Once a mask dries, it is decorated with beautiful colors and artwork (e.g. floral arrangements etc.). This is often performed freehand with a pencil. Masks are then painted using beautifully ornate colors (e.g. blue, red, yellow etc.) and finished by adding accoutrements (e.g. 24 karat gold leaf etc.). The craft was almost lost when Napoleon Bonaparte conquered Venice, Italy in 1797 and banned Carnival and Carnival masks as he believed the event could spark rebellion. Benito Mussolini banned the celebrations once again in the 1930’s. Until the late 1970’s, Carnival was a largely forgotten relic but it has since observed a resurgence within popular culture

The Reason Why Corporations Continue to Outsource Jobs

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Corporations in the west started to dismantle labor unions in the late 1970’s and were successful in their pursuit as the economy at this time was starting to become globalized which allowed companies to threaten to migrate production overseas when workers threatened to strike or refuse their working conditions. This tactic forced labor unions to dissolve as refusal could and most likely would result in complete job loss for every member of the group. The administration of President Ronald Regan ushered in deregulation alongside multiple income tax cuts for corporations and wealthy individuals, and as a direct result of these policies, corporate shareholders began to exercise more and more influence over the way these companies conducted business. Feeling the pressure and scrutiny of Wall Street, businesses began to view labor as expendable and as an expense which needed to be offloaded from balance sheets, leading to many jobs being outsourced within a relatively short period of time, to more impoverished nations which had weaker labor laws but most importantly to the participating corporations, these states also had and continue to have much lower minimum wages which is the primary driving factor as to why outsourcing continues to occur in virtually all industrialized countries

The U.S.’ Military Budget For Securing Oil Abroad

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The U.S. government spends $638,000,000,000 ($638 billion) per year on its defense budget, with $507,000,000,000 ($507 billion) of that cost spent upon Persian Gulf operations which situate U.S. military bases next to all major middle eastern oil sources. Ironically, the cost to secure and defend these oil sites is nearly 10x more expensive than the oil itself as the U.S. consumes only $56,000,000,00 ($56 billion) of oil annually. This massive offset cost is deemed necessary by the U.S. government to ensure the security of oil and to maintain its stability, making certain that oil is never again compromised as it was during the 1970’s when the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries decided to cut off the flow of oil imported into the U.S. The U.S. military occupies these regions on paper to defend democracy, but the truth is that these sites are only occupied to defend against the problem of the consolidation of oil

The Visual Capability of Toads

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If a toad is put into a tank with dead worms, it will starve to death because it won’t recognize the worms as food. Toads have evolved to only see horizontal lines moving as food. This theory was tested in the 1970’s, when scientists put a toad in a glass jar and had a vertical line pass by to which the toad did nothing, almost as if it has no clue of the line in front of it which looked like a worm standing straight up. Once the line was changed to become horizontal, the toad immediately tried to eat the horizontal line which mimicked a wormlike insect. Toads have a very unsophisticated visual spectrum. They basically think that if whatever they’re looking at appears to be a worm, then chances are it is and that it’s safe to ingest. This visual model is flawed because the toad is easily fooled giving it a disadvantage both in catching prey, and in becoming prey

American Political Strategist Roger Stone’s Contribution to Politics

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The term “super pac” is an acronym which stands for “political action committee”. The idea was created by political mastermind Roger Stone in the 1970’s, as a way to help boost a Republican presidential candidates chances of winning the presidential election. Stone created many concepts in politics including using fear as a motivational tactic to vote for the opposition, using dirty tricks so long as they were legal to help smear a rival candidate therefore boosting the opposition’s chances of winning, and promoting a candidate by advertising smear campaign advertisements on television. Stone understood that half truths and distortions were the most powerful tools within his disposal because when he was a child he promoted John F. Kennedy within his elementary school mock election and debate by spreading the rumor that Richard Nixon wanted to extend the school week an extra day by having children attend school on Saturday. The trick worked and it was at that moment that Stone realized he wanted to create a career in politics instead of cinema