Nerd Material

[Gator]

When young I was good friends with nerds as well as the cool guys.   This is from my nerd side:
 
http://twistedsifter.com/2013/08/maps-that-will-help-you-make-sense-of-the-world/
 
A few maps make interesting political statements.

[mendeleyev]

All my pocket protectors have been sent out for cleaning, but still this is interesting. Thanks, Gator.

[Misha]

It says a lot that in most states coaches in the USA are the highest paid public employees 

[SANDRO43]

Thanks for the link Phil, very informative and thought-provoking maps.

However, IINM Map 3 (The Only 22 Countries in the World Britain Has Not Invaded) contains some historical inaccuracies: I do not recall any British invasion of the URSS, Finland, Switzerland, the Philippines, Indochina, and all those South American states .

[Gylden]

Research show that drinking large amounts of coffee leads to early sexual development.
 
 

[ML]

Research show that drinking large amounts of coffee leads to early sexual development.
 
 

I have heard that some states are contemplating implementing laws that lower the age of the onset of puberty.

[ghost of moon goddess]

Thanks for the link Phil, very informative and thought-provoking maps.

However, IINM Map 3 (The Only 22 Countries in the World Britain Has Not Invaded) contains some historical inaccuracies: I do not recall any British invasion of the URSS, Finland, Switzerland, the Philippines, Indochina, and all those South American states .

Although the British never invaded the USSR, British forces HAVE set foot on Russian soil. Their "friendly" encroachment took place in 1918. shortly after they landed at Murmansk they introduced their invention to Russian prisoners -  the concentration camp, which they set up at Mudyug island, at the time often referred to as the island of death

[jone]

Yes, this data compares with 17 of the sites that I normally watch every day for light reading.

[mendeleyev]

Although the British never invaded the USSR, British forces HAVE set foot on Russian soil. Their "friendly" encroachment took place in 1918. shortly after they landed at Murmansk they introduced their invention to Russian prisoners -  the concentration camp, which they set up at Mudyug island, at the time often referred to as the island of death

I guess that the only reason the British, USA, and Canadian forces were not "invading" was their support for the White forces during the Civil War, under the pretense of safe guarding Allied weapons stockpiles from WWI. For almost 2 years you had the US printing Rubles for local currency and the Brits and the Americans appointing governors. Then Leon Trotsky with his Red Army prevailed and kicked the "Allied" forces out.

When Khruschev came to NY on his famous United Nations visit, he made a point to remind the assembly that while no Soviet soldiers had died on American soil, there were plenty of cemeteries in parts of Russia where Americans, Brits, and Canadians are buried. When President Bill Clinton visited Russia he was presented with a symbolic key to those cemeteries as a gesture of the end of the hostilities and the new friendship between the West and Russia.

The Czechs, part of the Allied effort to stop Communism, were operating in the East and there is now a debate as to whether they made off with large amounts of Russia's gold reserves when they retreated. The Czech's had been given the responsibility of guarding the gold being moved under White Army Commander Admiral Kolchak. Kolchak was betrayed and arrested however and soon thereafter the Allied forces were in retreat.

Some say that the gold remains hidden in remote Monasteries in rural areas of Russia and the Soviets spent a long of time systematically searching monasteries in attempts to find the gold. Others say that the gold lies somewhere at the bottom of Lake Baikal due to the Red Army blowing up Czech trains as they retreated across sections of the lake. There have been a number of Baikal expeditions, both Soviet and later Russian, to find and recover what is thought to be a very large cache of gold bars.

[SANDRO43]

I guess that the only reason the British, USA, and Canadian forces were not "invading" was their support for the White forces during the Civil War

Yes, I know about that, and the Kingdom of Italy also lent a hand with a little-known intervention in the Russian Far East.

In 1917 some 2,500 ethnic-Italian soldiers of the Austrian Army - prisoners in Russia - were freed and transported to the Italian Concession in Tientsin (Tianjin in the map below, SSE of of Beijing), obtained in 1901 after the Boxer rebellion.

There they were formed into the Legione Redenta di Siberia (Siberian Liberated Legion), and were later joined by some battalions of our Alpine troops shipped over to form the Corpo di spedizione italiano in Estremo Oriente (Italian Expeditionary Corps to the Far East), which fought in the summer of 1919 to keep open the Manchurian tract of the Trans-Siberian Railway, used by the Allies to supply the Whites. Its area of operations is shown in red below.

A similar Allied intervention occurred in 1919–1923 in Turkey, with the same eventual results.

Se we, too, 'invaded' the URSS - twice .

[Anotherkiwi]

Although the British never invaded the USSR, British forces HAVE set foot on Russian soil. Their "friendly" encroachment took place in 1918. shortly after they landed at Murmansk they introduced their invention to Russian prisoners -  the concentration camp, which they set up at Mudyug island, at the time often referred to as the island of death.

The British also had a base in Murmansk during the Second World War.  As well as the Royal Navy running the gauntlet of the German blockade, there was also a squadron of Hurricane fighters as was discussed here last year (http://www.russianwomendiscussion.com/index.php?topic=14065.msg297552#msg297552).

[Gator]

Thanks for the link Phil, very informative and thought-provoking maps.

However, IINM Map 3 (The Only 22 Countries in the World Britain Has Not Invaded) contains some historical inaccuracies: I do not recall any British invasion of the URSS, Finland, Switzerland, the Philippines, Indochina, and all those South American states .

I recall from memory invasions by the British into what would become Ukraine.   Hint: 
               Half a league onward, All in the valley of Death rode the six hundred
 
You are a student of sailing warships, and that war also included British shelling of Russian forts on the White Sea plus an attempted invasion of the Kamchatka.
 
 
 
The British in their many conflicts with Spain were all over Latin America.  Given its superior navy, Britain was never shy about flexing its muscle in empire building.   For example, my state of Florida was a former Spanish territory but was traded in a 1763 treaty to Britain for Cuba after the Brits captured western Cuba.  And part of the 1763 treaty included  territory in the Philippines captured by the Brits.   BTW, upon winning the War of Independence, America gave Florida back to Spain.   
 
The Switzerland invasion indeed seems bizarre  and needs some research.  However, I will not be surprised.  Maybe invaded during the Crusades.   
 
 

[SANDRO43]

Hint: Half a league onward, All in the valley of Death rode the six hundred

Tennyson's poem The Charge of the Light Brigade refers to a grossly mismanaged battle event (light cavalry attacking fixed Russian artillery positions ) during the Crimean War (1853–1856), a conflict between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia, who sent a body of 18,000 troops, including the Bersaglieri (our grouse plume-hatted assault troops who never march but run ) - who fought in the Battle of the Chernaya (1855) - it was an almost symbolic gesture by king Victor Emmanuel II of Savoy, anxious to enter the circle of the more powerful nations of the time.

Which would mean we invaded Russia thrice .

Bersaglieri -  Soldier and officer

However, this war ended with the peace negotiations of 1856 in the Congress of Paris, which resulted in the signing of the Treaty of Paris on March 30, 1856: Alexander II and the Sultan agreed not to establish any naval or military arsenal on the Black Sea coast.

Therefore, a stalemate with no real victors and no permanent occupation of Russian soil.

The most memorable legacy of this war was in fashion, where the names of Lord Raglan, Lord Cardigan and Balaclava eventually became household names for a type of sleeves, buttoned sweaters and headgear .

[ML]

Tennyson's poem The Charge of the Light Brigade refers to a grossly mismanaged battle event (light cavalry attacking fixed Russian artillery positions ) during the Crimean War (1853–1856),

I have actually been to the 'valley of death' just east of Balaclava which is south of Sevastopol.  How many others here can say that??

And, I actually sought it out, having known of Tennyson's poem and (at one time) was somewhat of a 'war' buff.

I thought, how could anyone be this close (Sevastopol) and not visit the scene made world famous by Tennyson.  But my local friends thought I was weird in seeking this out, and it took a lot of talk with the inhabitants in and around Balaclava to find the site.

It is now mostly a grape vineyard but there is a monument erected honoring the British there;  presumably placed by some British organization.

I thought, and told many Ukrainians, that Ukraine is missing a small goldmine of tourism by not promoting this site intensively to the UK, as I suspect every child in UK learned the poem.

'Forward, the Light Brigade!'
 Was there a man dismay'd?
 Not tho'(though) the soldiers knew
   Some one had blunder'd:
 Theirs not to make reply,
 Theirs not to reason why,
 Theirs but to do and die:
 Into the valley of Death
   Rode the six hundred.

[Gator]

ML,
 
I had the same objective but gave up after getting nowhere.   This a photo of the valley. 
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Valley-of-Death-Panorama.jpg
 
Cossacks were at the end of the valley, perhaps ancestors of my wife. 
 
It was not a major battle, with the loss of about 300 British soldiers killed, wounded or taken prisoner.  However, the magnificent poem glorified it.

[SANDRO43]

The Charge of The Light Brigade (1936), starring Errol Flynn:

A later (1968) British version, directed by Tony Richardson and starring John Gielgud (Lord Raglan), Trevor Howard (Lord Cardigan), Harry Andrews (Lord Lucan), David Hemmings (Capt. Louis Edward Nolan), Vanessa Redgrave (Mrs. Clarissa Morris):

[ML]

ML,
 
I had the same objective but gave up after getting nowhere.   This a photo of the valley. 
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Valley-of-Death-Panorama.jpg

I didn't give up!!

Here is pic of the monument to British soldiers in the middle of the vineyard.

[Patagonie]

Tennyson's poem The Charge of the Light Brigade refers to a grossly mismanaged battle event (light cavalry attacking fixed Russian artillery positions ) during the Crimean War (1853–1856), a conflict between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia, who sent a body of 18,000 troops, including the Bersaglieri (our grouse plume-hatted assault troops who never march but run ) - who fought in the Battle of the Chernaya (1855) - it was an almost symbolic gesture by king Victor Emmanuel II of Savoy, anxious to enter the circle of the more powerful nations of the time.

Which would mean we invaded Russia thrice .

Bersaglieri -  Soldier and officer

However, this war ended with the peace negotiations of 1856 in the Congress of Paris, which resulted in the signing of the Treaty of Paris on March 30, 1856: Alexander II and the Sultan agreed not to establish any naval or military arsenal on the Black Sea coast.

Therefore, a stalemate with no real victors and no permanent occupation of Russian soil.

The most memorable legacy of this war was in fashion, where the names of Lord Raglan, Lord Cardigan and Balaclava eventually became household names for a type of sleeves, buttoned sweaters and headgear .

I think it is Alexandre III, you wanted to write  Sandro.

[ML]

I think it is Alexandre III, you wanted to write  Sandro.

Nope, sorry Pat; it was the Deuce.  Trey wasn't born yet.

[Muzh]

I didn't give up!!

Here is pic of the monument to British soldiers in the middle of the vineyard.

Hmm, it seems someone got a shotgun blast to his face. Was Cheney around when this picture was taken?

[mendeleyev]

Was Cheney around when this picture was taken?

Either that or it was a very bad hair day. 

[BillyB]

When young I was good friends with nerds as well as the cool guys.   This is from my nerd side:
 
http://twistedsifter.com/2013/08/maps-that-will-help-you-make-sense-of-the-world/
 
A few maps make interesting political statements.

 Interesting to see the countries with the longests paid maternal leave just happen to also have some of the lowest birth rates in the world. As an incentive, people also get great tax breaks to have kids in Europe but few people there want kids.

[Patagonie]

Nope, sorry Pat; it was the Deuce.  Trey wasn't born yet.

Yeah you are right, i didn't read enough carefully and understood Napoleon III.

[Faux Pas]

Either that or it was a very bad hair day. 

His face caught on fire and someone put it out with an ice pick

[Muzh]

His face caught on fire and someone put it out with an ice pick