***Geek Club History Draft***

[Voltaire 4,578]

I just read about a song I'm familiar with, Cher's Believe, used this technology.

 

 

http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTEyMjY3ODE2.html?from=s1.8-1-1.2

 

 

I think she used it well here but I can see how it can be abused. I've been in China since 2001, don't have a radio or watch much TV, and listen to 80s and earlier music so am largely out of the loop on this stuff.

[Voltaire 4,578]

 

Guru Nanak About this sound pronunciation (help·info)[1] (Punjabi: ਗੁਰੂ ਨਾਨਕ; Hindi: गुरु नानक, Urdu: گرونانک, [ˈɡʊɾu ˈnɑnək] Gurū Nānak) (15 April 1469 – 22 September 1539) was the founder Prophet of Sikhism and the first of the ten Sikh Gurus. His birth is celebrated world-wide as Guru Nanak Gurpurab on Kartik Pooranmashi, the full-moon day in the month of Katak, October–November.[2]

 

Guru Nanak has been called "one of the greatest religious innovators of all time",[3] who was "an original spiritual thinker who expressed his thoughts and experiences via extraordinary poetry", that now forms the basis of Sikh scripture, Guru Granth Sahib. Devoting himself immensely to spiritual matters, Nanak is said to have been inspired by a "powerful spiritual experience that gave him a vision of the true nature of God". Stating that he had been taken to the "God's court" and bestowed with the gift of "Naam" (the Name or Word of God), Guru Nanak preached that human spiritual growth was achievable through contemplation and meditation and through a way of living that reflected the presence of the divine within all human beings, and insisted that external efforts such as fastings, pilgrimages and penances carried little spiritual importance.

 

Travelling far and wide (on a set of spiritual journeys through India/South Asia, Tibet and Arabia that lasted nearly 30 years), Guru Nanak preached the new idea of God as "Supreme, Universal, All-powerful and Truthful, Formless (Nirankar), Fearless (NirBhau), Without hate (Nirvair), the Sole, the Self-Existent, the Incomprehensible and the Ever-lasting creator of all things (Karta Purakh), and Satnam (the Eternal and Absolute Truth)". He taught people that the 'One' God dwells in every one of his creations, and set up a unique spiritual, social, and political platform based on equality, fraternal love, goodness, and virtue.[4][5][6]

Guru Nanak emphasized that all human beings can have direct access to God with no need of rituals or priests, and rejected the authority of the Vedas and attacked the citadel of the Hindu Caste System. He described the dangers of egotism, falsehood, and hypocrisy, and called upon the people to engage in worship through the "Naam" (word of God). He also rejected the path of renunciation (Tyaga or Yoga), emphasizing a householder's (family) life based on honest conduct, selfless service (Sewa), and constant devotion and remembrance of God's name. Guru Nanak promoted the equality of all mankind and upheld the causes of the downtrodden and the poor, laying special emphasis to assert the equality of women. He also condemned the theocracy of Mughal rulers, and was arrested for challenging the acts of barbarity of the Mughal emperor Babar.

 

Guru Nanak's words are registered in the form of 974 poetic hymns in the holy text of Sikhism, the Guru Granth Sahib, with some of the major prayers being the Japji Sahib, the Asa di Var and the Sidh-Ghost. It is part of Sikh religious belief that the spirit of Guru Nanak's sanctity, divinity and religious authority descended upon each of the nine subsequent Gurus when the Guruship was devolved on to them.[7]

-------

Andy Warhol (/ˈwɔrhɒl/;[1] born Andrew Warhola; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American artist who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationship between artistic expression, celebrity culture, and advertisement that flourished by the 1960s. After a successful career as a commercial illustrator, Warhol became a renowned and sometimes controversial artist. The Andy Warhol Museum in his native city, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, holds an extensive permanent collection of art and archives. It is the largest museum in the United States dedicated to a single artist.

Warhol's art used many types of media, including hand drawing, painting, printmaking, photography, silk screening, sculpture, film, and music. He was also a pioneer in computer-generated art using Amiga computers that were introduced in 1984, two years before his death. He founded Interview Magazine and was the author of numerous books, including The Philosophy of Andy Warhol and Popism: The Warhol Sixties. He managed and produced The Velvet Underground, a rock band which had a strong influence on the evolution of punk rock music. He is also notable as a gay man who lived openly as such before the gay liberation movement. His studio, The Factory, was a well known gathering place that brought together distinguished intellectuals, drag queens, playwrights, Bohemian street people, Hollywood celebrities, and wealthy patrons.

 

Warhol has been the subject of numerous retrospective exhibitions, books, and feature and documentary films. He coined the widely used expression "15 minutes of fame". Many of his creations are very collectible and highly valuable. The highest price ever paid for a Warhol painting is US$105 million for a 1963 canvas titled "Silver Car Crash (Double Disaster)".[2] A 2009 article in The Economist described Warhol as the "bellwether of the art market".[3] Warhol's works include some of the most expensive paintings ever sold.

 

 

-------

 

I hadn't looked into Guru Nanak before. Just a name on 90sbaby's list until now but as founder of the Sikhs, it's a nice catch.

 

Warhol is a great pick too. Not so much for me since I don't like his art, but I recognize his enormous reputation. The scary psycho b*tch that shot him is a good one for looking into. Check out the SCUM Manifesto.

[BiPolarBear 476]

I know some of you will laugh, but this is actually an accurate documentary of Auto-Tune. Also, Old Maid appears 2:09 for a brief rant.

 

[vuduchile 1,941]

Finishing up the composer category:

 

Mick Jagger w/Keith Richards as collaborator.

 

 

 

The other teams might stomp me with their conquerors or mathematicians, but no way they'll carry any tune better than this group.

 

Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, Starr, Jagger, Richards, Dylan, Robert Johnson, Bach and Ravel.

 

There may be one more.

 

 

 

[vuduchile 1,941]

I know some of you will laugh, but this is actually an accurate documentary of Auto-Tune. Also, Old Maid appears 2:09 for a brief rant.

 

haha.

 

That last line was perfect!

[Voltaire 4,578]

Bear is timing out again but he's almost surely sleeping. Maybe give him another couple of hours to wake up and get his head on straight. Or go. Whatever TBBOM wants to do..

[BiPolarBear 476]

Joseph-Louis Lagrange - Mathematician

 

Considered the greatest mathematician of the eighteenth century.

 

By the age of 19, Lagrange was appointed professor of mathematics at the Royal Artillery School in Turin - after Euler stated how impressed he was with Lagrange's work on the tautochrone demonstrating his method of maxima and minima titled 'Calculus of Variation'. His discoveries were important to the not yet named subject of 'Calculus'. He received 2 offers to work at the prestigious Berlin Academy and finally accepted the offer and succeeded Euler as the Director of Mathematics on November 6, 1766 but then moved on to the Paris Academy of Science where he remained for the rest of his career.

[titans&bucs&bearsohmy! 2,745]

Chester W. Nimitz - general tactical

 

The leading admiral of the United States Navy in the pacific, he personally commanded, among others, the battle of midway, probably the most pivotal naval battle since Trafalgar.

 

His victories over the Japanese navy made Japan's ultimate defeat simply a matter of time, and allowed the United States to take a "Europe First" approach.

[vuduchile 1,941]

Chester W. Nimitz - general tactical

 

The leading admiral of the United States Navy in the pacific, he personally commanded, among others, the battle of midway, probably the most pivotal naval battle since Trafalgar.

 

His victories over the Japanese navy made Japan's ultimate defeat simply a matter of time, and allowed the United States to take a "Europe First" approach.

Nice pick.

 

You should trade me Jesus Christ for Voltaire. You despise Christianity, and you quote Voltaire's views on it in your sig. Think about it. You would own Voltaire, the namesake of the geek who put this whole draft together.

[titans&bucs&bearsohmy! 2,745]

Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen - talk show guest

 

Considered the "ace of aces" he is credited with more than 80 successful airial combats in WWI.

 

You may have had his pizza. He is better known as the Red Barron.

[Voltaire 4,578]

I'm doubling up on this category with a pair of Morons for your reading pleasure. I found good sources to cut and paste for both of them.

 

Remember in Afghanistan how the Taliban blew up the largest Bhudda statues in the world? Now I thought at the time, 'Afghanistan is a backwater focking sh*thole beyond all hope or reach of civilization. How did such majestic statues get built there in the first place?' Well, I learned I was wrong.

 

Believe it or not, this region wasn't always a sh*thole. All those sparsely populate central Asia -stans countries full of grazing sheep who are largly irrelevant and who's names you don't know other than from that Borat movie. This will shock you, they had an important, great rich modern and magnificent culture there. Scholars. Librararies. Important cities. Dams. Waterways.

 

In Afghanistan, I sh*t you not. Honest to Allah, this vast nothingness of goat molesters was at one time the cutting edge of Islamic thought... you know, from back in the heyday of Islam when the religion didn't suck ass. Then one day in a galaxy far, far away, Obi Wan Kenobi felt a shift in the force for the second time.

 

The place is in what is now: Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrigistan, Turkmenistan, Tadzighistan, Persia, Afghanistan and western Pakistan. You can see the map and read about it here: https://en.wikipedia...t_of_Khwarezmia

 

Anyways, here's a lesson in what happens when you deliberatly insult Ghengis Khan. Their whole culture got wiped out: cities destroyed and leveled, the whole place depopulated, slaughtering of man women and child, their farms and fields turned in grazing areas for the Mongols. Less than 1% of the population survived: and it was all unnecessarily.

 

Muhammad II of Khwarezm - Dumb Focking Moron

 

I'm done typing. Our story here starts in 1218 with our Dumb Foccking Moron selection, a Persian Muslims in charge.

 

Here comes the cut and paste.

----

 

Relations between Genghiz Khan and Alauddin were at first friendly, although skirmishes had taken place in Sinkiang between the forces of the two empires over succession issues of the local princes. However, a fateful turn of events took place in 1218. Genghiz bought stock in the goods of three Khiva merchants and with them sent Mongol representatives to obtain Khorasani products. Nasiruddin, the governor of the frontier provinceOtrar, suspected that the Mongols were spies and asked the permission of Alauddin to execute them. The permission was granted and the merchants were slain. Furious, Genghiz sent an ambassador to Nasiruddin and demanded retribution. With the haughtiness and self-delusion that has so often characterized Muslim interfaces with other civilizations, Nasiruddin put the envoy to death. This was an insult that Genghiz Khan could not tolerate. The drums of war were beaten.

 

Genghiz gathered the Mongol tribes and preparations for war began. Great conquerors pay as much attention to the detailed preparations for war as to the strategies of war itself. Men, horses and supplies were carefully planned and the great mountains of Central Asia were successfully crossed in the winter of 1218-1219. Genghiz was a general par excellence. The first skirmish between Alauddin and the Mongols took place at Otrar on the Amu Darya. The outcome was indecisive. But the Sultan, in his characteristic haughtiness, declared victory, distributed presents to his troops and retired towards Samarqand.

 

It was at this historic moment that Alauddin Muhammed made a strategic military blunder. He divided up his armies into two main columns and sent smaller contingents to fortify the cities in the Farghana Valley. He thought that the Mongols would withdraw after looting border areas and thus chose a defensive strategy to protect his cities. This gave Genghiz the initiative to focus overwhelming military power at any given geographical point without the risk of facing the full might of the Shahs forces.

 

The contrast between Genghiz Khan and Alauddin Muhammed was as marked as it ever was between two generals who have squared off against each other. Genghiz was a warrior, cruel, merciless, relentless, master of deception but who led his armies with the skill becoming of a great conqueror. Alauddin, by contrast was lacking in skills both of tactics and strategy and was a coward who fled with his own men without giving battle. Genghiz always gathered intelligence about his adversaries before combat. Alauddin knew nothing of his mortal enemy but provoked him into war. This was a civilizational encounter wherein the Mongols had the advantage of technology, skills, intelligence, tactics and leadership. The Sultan, by contrast, demonstrated a fatalistic self-delusion and knew nothing of the technologies, skills, tactics, motivation or capabilities of his enemies.

Genghiz followed up his assault on one city after another. In the year 1219 the cities of Otrar, Jhand, Khokand, Bukhara, Samarqand and Signac fell one after the other. In each city the pattern was similar. Men, women and children were slaughtered except those needed as slaves for work during the military campaigns. Agricultural land was turned into grazing ground for Mongol horses and the cities were razed to the ground.

 

Dams were destroyed, libraries burned, mosques demolished and learned men tortured to death. Shah Alauddin Muhammed fled before the Mongols and was hunted from city to city. During the year 1220, Balkh, Nishapur, Ghazna as well as the provinces of Kuchan, Isfahan and Damgan fell. The Shah finally escaped to an island in the Caspian Sea where he died a pauper, leaving a legacy of cowardice rarely matched in history.

 

http://historyofisla...d/genghiz-khan/

----

 

This one here, I recommend that you follow the link at the bottom as it has some nice pics for visual aids and a drawing of what was intended to take place.

 

-----

HMS Victoria was a massive warship that was built for one purpose and one alone: to turn Britain's enemies on the sea into Britain's enemies under the sea. Designed to be the flagship of their Mediterranean fleet, the Royal Navy spared no expense in making Victoria terrifyingly unstoppable. With its 17-inch armor, state of the art engines and two 110-ton guns built into one massive turret, the ship was essentially the Death Star of the seas.

 

The Navy hype machine lauded the ship as virtually unbeatable, because everyone knows nothing bad has ever happened to ships that have been dubbed invincible.

 

Yeah, with all the hoo-hah surrounding it, HMS Victoria was always pretty much destined to become a connoisseur of the finer textures of the ocean bottom. The real embarrassment factor came in how it happened: In 1893, the Brits accidentally sunk HMS Victoria all by themselves. With a flashy parade maneuver.

 

It must have seemed like such a good idea at the time. After all, the massive ship was completely seaworthy and presided over by Vice Admiral George Tryon, a known master of complicated ship handling. As they were pulling into Tripoli, Tryon decided to show off his fleet's capabilities and designed a display for the masses gathered on the shores, in a manner not unlike a skateboarder impressing onlookers with a perfectly executed frontside ollie.

 

The idea was that the 10 ships under his command would head directly away from port in two parallel columns, then turn 180 degrees to meet in the middle and head back to port in perfect formation. Correctly executed, it would have looked pretty sweet.

 

Unfortunatly, Tryon evidently sucked at math. Both lead ships -- Victoria and HMS Camperdown -- had a minimum turning radius of 800 yards, meaning they needed to be over 1,600 yards apart to pull off the stunt. Tryon, despite the frantic protests of his underlings, set their distance at 1,200 yards.

In what must've been the biggest, most drawn-out "oh ######" moment in the history of naval prancing, everyone except Tryon watched in horror as Victoria and Camperdown drew closer and closer, until the latter rammed into Victoria's side and ripped it open like a weaponized iceberg. At that point reality finally dawned on Tryon, if only because he happened to be onboard Victoria himself.

 

HMS Victoria's turret full of giant guns immediately proved the dangers of overcompensation. The weight dragged the damaged ship down nose first, burying it deep in the silt. It sank so hard that its recovery remains impossible to this day.

 

"This is all my fault." Famous last words of the admiral as he went down with his ship.

 

George Tryon - Dumb Focking Moron

 

http://www.cracked.c...istory-war.html

[Voltaire 4,578]

You guys are decimating all my top generals.

[Voltaire 4,578]

Nice pick.

 

You should trade me Jesus Christ for Voltaire. You despise Christianity, and you quote Voltaire's views on it in your sig. Think about it. You would own Voltaire, the namesake of the geek who put this whole draft together.

Voltaire didn't live in today's world where another religion is making up serious ground on Christianity, also if Voltaire is in play, let me know who you may want.

[Voltaire 4,578]

PM from Bear

 

---

 

This will complete my mathematician category, I believe.

 

He worked on the creation of the Hydrogen bomb and the Manhattan Project. He also had an interest in self replicating machines. Also self replicating computer programs, which we refer to computer viruses today:

 

from wiki

 

Von Neumann also created the field of cellular automata without the aid of computers, constructing the first self-replicating automata with pencil and graph paper. The concept of a universal constructor was fleshed out in his posthumous work Theory of Self Reproducing Automata.[72] Von Neumann proved that the most effective way of performing large-scale mining operations such as mining an entire moon or asteroid belt would be by using self-replicating machines, taking advantage of their exponential growth.

 

Von Neumann's rigorous mathematical analysis of the structure of self-replication (of the semiotic relationship between constructor, description and that which is constructed), preceded the discovery of the structure of DNA.[6]

 

Beginning in 1949, von Neumann's design for a self-reproducing computer program is considered the world's first computer virus, and he is considered to be the theoretical father of computer virology.[73]

 

Donald Knuth cites von Neumann as the inventor, in 1945, of the merge sort algorithm, in which the first and second halves of an array are each sorted recursively and then merged.[74]

 

John von Neumann - Mathematician

-----

 

Bear is in. ... to Vudu who can go twice. I've still got a good number of 90sbaby picks by the way. He's got some good names and not had any swiped yet.

[vuduchile 1,941]

Voltaire didn't live in today's world where another religion is making up serious ground on Christianity, also if Voltaire is in play, let me know who you may want.

Thomas Jefferson.

[vuduchile 1,941]

Scientist - Other

 

 

British fossil collector and paleontologist Mary Anning (1799-1847) was only twelve years old and the child of a poor family when she made her first seminal discovery. While fossil-hunting on the cliffs of Lyme Regis, England, she found what was, at the time, believed to be the first dinosaur skeleton the remains of an ichthyosaur, a prehistoric reptile. Until her landmark discovery, animal extinction was believed to be impossible. Though her gender and social class made it difficult for her to fully participate in the scientific community of 19th-century Britain, she read as much scientific literature as she could get her hands on and went on to become a renowned fossil-hunter and dealer, often risking her life in the face of landslides and daunting cliffs. The great Stephen Jay Gould, arguably the most beloved popular science writer of all time, famously called Anning probably the most important unsung (or inadequately sung) collecting force in the history of paleontology indeed, her work ignited a fundamental shift in scientific thinking about prehistoric life in the early 19th century.

[vuduchile 1,941]

Wild Card. - collaborators The Pinkertons.

 

 

Allan Pinkerton (1819 1884), William Pinkerton (1846 1923), and Robert Pinkerton (1848 1907) created a legacy on detective work that still lives on. They formed a detective agency that would be world known for producing some of the best detectives in the world, but their names may not always be remembered. The Pinkertons served "as an effective national police force in the second half of the 19th century" and fought spies and assassins in the Civil War, according to Kuhns. They are also well-known for their work with capturing the infamous Jesse James. They helped create the Secret Service as well.

 

The Pinkerton legend of detective work spans centuries. That may be why it is so funny that the original Pinkerton, a poorly educated village craftsman, became a detective through accident. He was involved with finding the culprit behind a series of local burglaries, and that led to him being a detective full time. Pinkerton, a very conservative man, supported abolition, womens rights, and radical religious views. Maybe this is why they employed the first female detective. Kuhns said William and Robert were the sons of Allan, and were even better detectives than their father. They have a history of tracing criminals from remote corners of the United Sates, to Latin America, Southern America, and Europe. They fought master thieves, murderers, and gangs. The Pinkerton Code was created in 1850 to include not accepting bribes, never compromising, partnering with local law enforcement, refusing divorce cases and cases that incite scandal, turning down reward money, never raising fees without warning, and keeping clients up-to-date on the cases, according to the Pinkerton Detective Agency's own websites. In 1856, Kate Warne was hired by Pinkerton and becomes the first female detective in the U.S. In 1861, the Pinkertons uncovered and foiled an assassination plot on the life of Abraham Lincoln. During the Civil War, Pinkerton agency served as head of the Union Intelligence Service, which later became the Secret Service.

[Voltaire 4,578]

90sbaby picks

 

Theodor Seuss Geisel aka Dr Seuss - fiction writer

Jesse James - criminals

[Voltaire 4,578]

Scientist - Other

 

 

British fossil collector and paleontologist Mary Anning (1799-1847) was only twelve years old and the child of a poor family when she made her first seminal discovery. While fossil-hunting on the cliffs of Lyme Regis, England, she found what was, at the time, believed to be the first dinosaur skeleton the remains of an ichthyosaur, a prehistoric reptile. Until her landmark discovery, animal extinction was believed to be impossible. Though her gender and social class made it difficult for her to fully participate in the scientific community of 19th-century Britain, she read as much scientific literature as she could get her hands on and went on to become a renowned fossil-hunter and dealer, often risking her life in the face of landslides and daunting cliffs. The great Stephen Jay Gould, arguably the most beloved popular science writer of all time, famously called Anning probably the most important unsung (or inadequately sung) collecting force in the history of paleontology indeed, her work ignited a fundamental shift in scientific thinking about prehistoric life in the early 19th century.

I thought this was Georges Cuvier so I looked into it. She discovered the dinosaur when she was twelve (meaning 1811) and Cuvier had first taken the mastadon bones to the National Institue of France, pronounced the species extinct, and published his findings in 1796 but his work remained controversial for a long time and was still hammering at extinction being real for a long while beyond 1811 before it became accepted and she likely played a critical role in all that debate.

[Voltaire 4,578]

Oops.

 

I typed my thing early while waiting for others to do, then when I cut and pasted and I screwed up my last pick.

 

This is how my first pick was supposed to read:

----

 

I'm doubling up on this category with a pair of Morons for your reading pleasure. I found good sources to cut and paste for both of them.

Remember in Afghanistan how the Taliban blew up the largest Bhudda statues in the world? Now I thought at the time, 'Afghanistan is a backwater focking sh*thole beyond all hope or reach of civilization. How did such majestic statues get built there in the first place?' Well, I learned I was wrong.

 

Believe it or not, this region wasn't always a sh*thole. All those sparsely populate central Asia -stans countries full of grazing sheep who are largly irrelevant and who's names you don't know other than from that Borat movie. This will shock you, they had an important, great rich modern and magnificent culture there. Scholars. Librararies. Important cities. Dams. Waterways.

 

In Afghanistan, I sh*t you not. Honest to Allah, this vast nothingness of goat molesters was at one time the cutting edge of Islamic thought... you know, from back in the heyday of Islam when the religion didn't suck ass. Then one day in a galaxy far, far away, Obi Wan Kenobi felt a shift in the force for the second time.

The place is in what is now: Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrigistan, Turkmenistan, Tadzighistan, Persia, Afghanistan and western Pakistan. You can see the map and read about it here: http://historyofisla...d/genghiz-khan/

 

Anyways, here's a lesson in what happens when you deliberatly insult Ghengis Khan. Their whole culture got wiped out: cities destroyed and leveled, the whole place depopulated, slaughtering of man women and child, their farms and fields turned in grazing areas for the Mongols. Less than 1% of the population survived: and it was all unnecessarily.

 

Muhammad II of Khwarezm - Dumb Focking Moron

 

I'm done typing. Our story here starts in 1218 with our Dumb Foccking Moron selection, a Persian Muslims in charge.

 

Here comes the cut and paste.

----

Relations between Genghiz Khan and Alauddin were at first friendly, although skirmishes had taken place in Sinkiang between the forces of the two empires over succession issues of the local princes. However, a fateful turn of events took place in 1218. Genghiz bought stock in the goods of three Khiva merchants and with them sent Mongol representatives to obtain Khorasani products. Nasiruddin, the governor of the frontier provinceOtrar, suspected that the Mongols were spies and asked the permission of Alauddin to execute them. The permission was granted and the merchants were slain. Furious, Genghiz sent an ambassador to Nasiruddin and demanded retribution. With the haughtiness and self-delusion that has so often characterized Muslim interfaces with other civilizations, Nasiruddin put the envoy to death. This was an insult that Genghiz Khan could not tolerate. The drums of war were beaten.

Genghiz gathered the Mongol tribes and preparations for war began. Great conquerors pay as much attention to the detailed preparations for war as to the strategies of war itself. Men, horses and supplies were carefully planned and the great mountains of Central Asia were successfully crossed in the winter of 1218-1219. Genghiz was a general par excellence. The first skirmish between Alauddin and the Mongols took place at Otrar on the Amu Darya. The outcome was indecisive. But the Sultan, in his characteristic haughtiness, declared victory, distributed presents to his troops and retired towards Samarqand.

It was at this historic moment that Alauddin Muhammed made a strategic military blunder. He divided up his armies into two main columns and sent smaller contingents to fortify the cities in the Farghana Valley. He thought that the Mongols would withdraw after looting border areas and thus chose a defensive strategy to protect his cities. This gave Genghiz the initiative to focus overwhelming military power at any given geographical point without the risk of facing the full might of the Shah’s forces.

The contrast between Genghiz Khan and Alauddin Muhammed was as marked as it ever was between two generals who have squared off against each other. Genghiz was a warrior, cruel, merciless, relentless, master of deception but who led his armies with the skill becoming of a great conqueror. Alauddin, by contrast was lacking in skills both of tactics and strategy and was a coward who fled with his own men without giving battle. Genghiz always gathered intelligence about his adversaries before combat. Alauddin knew nothing of his mortal enemy but provoked him into war. This was a civilizational encounter wherein the Mongols had the advantage of technology, skills, intelligence, tactics and leadership. The Sultan, by contrast, demonstrated a fatalistic self-delusion and knew nothing of the technologies, skills, tactics, motivation or capabilities of his enemies.

Genghiz followed up his assault on one city after another. In the year 1219 the cities of Otrar, Jhand, Khokand, Bukhara, Samarqand and Signac fell one after the other. In each city the pattern was similar. Men, women and children were slaughtered except those needed as slaves for work during the military campaigns. Agricultural land was turned into grazing ground for Mongol horses and the cities were razed to the ground.

 

Dams were destroyed, libraries burned, mosques demolished and learned men tortured to death. Shah Alauddin Muhammed fled before the Mongols and was hunted from city to city. During the year 1220, Balkh, Nishapur, Ghazna as well as the provinces of Kuchan, Isfahan and Damgan fell. The Shah finally escaped to an island in the Caspian Sea where he died a pauper, leaving a legacy of cowardice rarely matched in history.

[BiPolarBear 476]

http://tinyurl.com/BPBstatesmanpick

 

* He has been Prime Minister of Canada since 11-15-2015

 

* He is pro weed.

 

* He wins charity boxing matches.

 

* He has tats.

 

* He is active on Twitter.

 

This is my #4 Statesman pick and it is "on the come", in betting terms.

 

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2015/12/note-world-leaders-refugees-trudeau-canada-syria-151214051232043.html

[Voltaire 4,578]

http://tinyurl.com/BPBstatesmanpick

 

* He has been Prime Minister of Canada since 11-15-2015

 

* He is pro weed.

 

* He wins charity boxing matches.

 

* He has tats.

 

* He is active on Twitter.

 

This is my #4 Statesman pick and it is "on the come", in betting terms.

 

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2015/12/note-world-leaders-refugees-trudeau-canada-syria-151214051232043.html

His was born on December 25, 1971. That's the Christmas Forrest Gump spends with the depressed Lt. Dan. That's also the day I was born.

[Voltaire 4,578]

His was born on December 25, 1971. That's the Christmas Forrest Gump spends with the depressed Lt. Dan. That's also the day I was born.

The hospital provided a Christmas stocking for my parents to take me home in. My due date had been January 1st but I arrived a week early. My father's favorite Christmas joke is the best Christmas gift I ever gave him was a deduction on his 1972 income tax returns.

[titans&bucs&bearsohmy! 2,745]

I'm lost...

 

My turn?

[Voltaire 4,578]

I'm lost...

 

My turn?

Yeah, go.

[titans&bucs&bearsohmy! 2,745]

Yuri Gagarin - explorer

 

First man in space. Nice bargain pickup this late in the draft I think.

[Voltaire 4,578]

That's awesome. I figured everybody forgot about him and I was at some point going to move Pizzaro out to Wildcard and get him.

[Voltaire 4,578]

Liu Bang - General (Strategic)

 

I may move him to Wildcard or Criminal but for now here he is.

 

Really the perfect human being where Arnold Schwarzenegger meets Arthur Fonzerelli. He's bigger, stronger, more charismatic, handsomer, great joke/storyteller and a bigger chick magnet than anyone. Can out-drink everyone, the life of the party. A natural leader respected by all and pretty much the perfect specimen of humanity. Da Vinci and Michelangelo are going to like having him around to inspire their art.

 

Alas, Liu was also a poor peasant and a bit of a cocky punk gang leader who got himself arrested and would up working as prison labor on my recently deceased #1 Conqurer's mausoleum.

 

So when his prison labor sentence was over, he returned to live with his baby momma. Some hotshot scholar from out of town arrives and a party is held to honor/welcome him. Liu Bang weasels his way into the party and charms the hell out of the scholar. Apparently he also has some birthmark that indicates greatness. The effects of Liu's charisma are so great that the man offers him his daughter in marriage.

 

Only one problem. Liu Bang is broke. He needs to come up with cash for a gift to marry this chick so he borrows it from his baby momma. Yes that's right. This chick stayed loyal to Liu Bang while he was in prison, raises a son for him, then he returns to her, lies to get her to lend him money, so he can use her money to go buy a present to marry somebody else.

 

What a massive d*ck!

 

Don't worry, he'll pay her back 100000 times over or so before the story ends.

 

So then he marries this rich chick and, uh, (cough) (cough) takes her to go live with his parents'. In the Chinese historical TV series of these events, the scenes of Lü Zhi at her father-in-law's peasant shack are over-the-top funny/ridiculous. Clearly the director has had great mischievous, evil glee placing this high-born noblewoman on the farm because every time he visits her there, he inflicts all sorts of indignities on his beautiful young actress. First we see Lü Zhi in her lovely wedding dress and beautiful intricate hair, as she looks around mortified at the squalor she is to endure, she stumbles over a chicken and falls in the dirt. A few episodes later, she's in rags, barefoot, hair all tangled wild, coated with dirt as she genteelly and ineptly trying to coax a stubborn pig to move and stumbles and falls in the pig sty, covered in pigsh*t.

 

She's not use to and totally unsuitable for this life and is miserable. Despite the squalor of her existence, she actually likes Liu Biao. She has the same faith as her father that there's something special about this man. And there will be. She just needed patience and she'll be back in luxury beyond all her wildest imagination.

 

So now, marrying so high, Liu Bang has a bit of respectability. The captain of police remembers him as a criminal but also as a man that exudes competence and commands respect from his days in prison. This is quite the trick too since in China at the time, convicts had to bury their foreheads in the dirt in the presence of their jailers. So he offers Liu Bang a job on the police force. Liu Bang accepts. Now he has to escort prisoners (his friends and colleagues from his gang days) to the work on the mausoleum as prison labor on the same route that route that he took when he was a convict.

 

As a cop, he's a soft touch, hangs out drinking with his friends/prisoners. Unfortunately for him, a few take advantage of his hospitality and escape from the chain gang. Well now he's focked. Allowing prisoners to escape is a capital offense and he'll probably lose his head over this. What he decides to do is just to release all the prisoners and invite them to join him and live as outlaws and he becomes a bandit king.

 

Ah this story is taking too long and I can't do it justice. Skip along.

 

He makes for a hell of a fine bandit and despite this remains popular with the people who help him.

 

China has a lot of great wise and benevolent emperors in their history. This emperor is not one of them, he's evil, unpopular and an a$$hole. As with police getting executed for when prisoners escape, there's a lot of executions going on. Great turmoil and a popular uprising occurs to overthrow the Emperor. Liu Bang joins the rebellion, not for ideological reasons like restoring honor and social justice but pragmatic ones. The authorities see him as a despised criminal and there's huge reward on his head.

 

Liu Bang proves as adapt at being a general as he is at arm wrestling, drinking and every other endeavor he attempts. Schwarzenegger meets Fonzerelli meets Napoleon. He becomes integral in the rebellion and after many great, glorious battles, they succeed in overthrowing the Emperor. But he's not really a rebel. He's a peasant criminal gang leader. The rebel leader isn't sure how to handle him. Despite being their best and most successful general, he disrespects Liu Bang and give him a small kingdom for his efforts.

 

So Liu Bang starts another war against this rebel leader. Another civil war. Many more great and glorious epic battles, when the dust settles, the former peasant Liu Bang is victorious and becomes Emperor Gaozu of Han, establishing the Han dynasty that.would rule China for the next 600 years.

[Voltaire 4,578]

Akbar the Great - Administrator

 

Abu'l-Fath Jalal ud-din Muhammad Akbar, popularly known as Akbar I (IPA: [əkbər], literally "the great"; 15 October 1542[a]– 27 October 1605)[6][7] and later Akbar the Great (Urdu: Akbar-e-Azam; literally "Great the Great"),[8] was Mughal Emperor from 1556 until his death. He was the third and one of the greatest rulers of the Mughal Dynasty in India. Akbar succeeded his father, Humayun, under a regent, Bairam Khan, who helped the young emperor expand and consolidate Mughal domains in India. A strong personality and a successful general, Akbar gradually enlarged the Mughal Empire to include nearly all of the Indian Subcontinent north of the Godavari river. His power and influence, however, extended over the entire country because of Mughal military, political, cultural, and economic dominance. To unify the vast Mughal state, Akbar established a centralised system of administration throughout his empire and adopted a policy of conciliating conquered rulers through marriage and diplomacy. In order to preserve peace and order in a religiously and culturally diverse empire, he adopted policies that won him the support of his non-Muslim subjects. Eschewing tribal bonds and Islamic state identity, Akbar strived to unite far-flung lands of his realm through loyalty, expressed through a Persianised culture, to himself as an emperor who had near-divine status.

 

Mughal India developed a strong and stable economy, leading to commercial expansion and greater patronage of culture. Akbar himself was a patron of art and culture. He was fond of literature, and created a library of over 24,000 volumes written in Sanskrit, Hindustani, Persian, Greek, Latin, Arabic and Kashmiri, staffed by many scholars, translators, artists, calligraphers, scribes, bookbinders and readers. Holy men of many faiths, poets, architects and artisans adorned his court from all over the world for study and discussion. Akbar's courts at Delhi, Agra, and Fatehpur Sikri became centers of the arts, letters, and learning. Perso-Islamic culture began to merge and blend with indigenous Indian elements, and a distinct Indo-Persian culture emerged characterised by Mughal style arts, painting, and architecture. Disillusioned with orthodox Islam and perhaps hoping to bring about religious unity within his empire, Akbar promulgated Din-i-Ilahi, a syncretic creed derived from Islam, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, and Christianity. A simple, monotheistic cult, tolerant in outlook, it centered on Akbar as a prophet, for which he drew the ire of the ulema and orthodox Muslims.

 

Akbar's reign significantly influenced the course of Indian history. During his rule, the Mughal empire tripled in size and wealth. He created a powerful military system and instituted effective political and social reforms. By abolishing the sectarian tax on non-Muslims and appointing them to high civil and military posts, he was the first Mughal ruler to win the trust and loyalty of the native subjects. He had Sanskrit literature translated, participated in native festivals, realizing that a stable empire depended on the co-operation and good-will of his subjects. Thus, the foundations for a multicultural empire under Mughal rule was laid during his reign. Akbar was succeeded as emperor by his son, Jahangir.

[titans&bucs&bearsohmy! 2,745]

Alfred the great - administrator

 

Alfred the Great (849 26 October 899) (Old English: Ælfrēd, Ælfrǣd, "elf counsel" or "wise elf") was King of Wessex from 871 to 899.

 

Alfred successfully defended his kingdom against the Viking attempt at conquest, and by the time of his death had become the dominant ruler in England.[1] He is one of only two English monarchs to be given the epithet "the Great", the other one being Cnut the Great (although Cnut was not Saxon, but Danish). He was also the first King of the West Saxons to style himself "King of the Anglo-Saxons". Details of Alfred's life are described in a work by the 10th-century Welsh scholar and bishop Asser. A devout Christian, Alfred had a reputation as a learned and merciful man of a gracious and level-headed nature who encouraged education and improved his kingdom's legal system, military structure and his people's quality of life.[citation needed]

[Voltaire 4,578]

There was some treasure hoard discovered recently (like last week) that dates back to Alfred's time from one of his rival kings that essentially got wiped out from history.

[Voltaire 4,578]

Message from Bear below

 

---- Marshall McLuhan - Social scientist I got to read his limited release publication back in the day. Remember that the Medium is not only the message; it is also the massage. From wiki: Herbert Marshall McLuhan, CC (July 21, 1911 – December 31, 1980) was a Canadian philosopher of communication theory and a public intellectual. His work is viewed as one of the cornerstones of the study of media theory, as well as having practical applications in the advertising and television industries.[1][2] He was educated at the University of Manitoba and Cambridge University and began his teaching career as a Professor of English at several universities in the U.S. and Canada, before moving to the University of Toronto where he would remain for the rest of his life.

 

McLuhan is known for coining the expressions the medium is the message and the global village, and for predicting the World Wide Web almost thirty years before it was invented.[3] Although he was a fixture in media discourse in the late 1960s, his influence began to wane in the early 1970s.[4] In the years after his death, he continued to be a controversial figure in academic circles.[5] With the arrival of the internet, however, interest in his work and perspective has renewed.[6][7][8] -----

 

I had an early idea for the internet when I was a kid. I think I was ten or twelve at the time. I noticed that calls to my aunt's house were local but calls further out were long distance. But those same calls were local from her house. Meanwhile, calls local to my house were long distance from hers. I figured that if I wanted to make a call across the state and maybe the country, I could call her, she could call somebody, they could call somebody else... it'd have to be automated in some way, but if we got enough people into our network, we all could call anybody across the state or even country without having to pay long distance charges.

 

It never came to fruition.

 

Updated to 99.3 To Vudu.(x2, we can roll the dice again with 90sbaby)

[vuduchile 1,941]

Administrator

 

In 2008, when Razia Jan built a school for girls in the rural village of DehSubz in Afghanistan, she faced several problems at once: the looming threat of violence, a pervasive culture of female oppression, and the stubborn opposition of many of the villages male elders. These problems had grown worse since the Taliban gained power in this village about 30 miles north of Kabul, the nations capital city.

 

In a place where educating girls will get you attacked, poisoned, stoned or killed, this woman is doing it anyway. And, against all odds has become successful in transforming the way some people think in a her small corner of the Middle East.

 

Most Westerners can't even fathom the way girls and women are treated there. Here's a woman who's seen it first hand and has decided to do something about it.

 

Her entire life story is yet to be written, but it doesn't matter. She's doing the impossible right now, and that's more than good enough to earn a spot on my team.

 

http://www.alternet.org/education/place-where-teaching-girls-can-get-you-poisoned-afghan-woman-got-men-her-side

[Voltaire 4,578]

Two from 90sbaby

 

---

JRR Tolkien - fiction writer

Kublai Khan - General (Strategic)

----

 

He said he'd be gone 5-8 days it's been seven so we'll likely see him again soon. In the mean time, I still have seven more names so can go for another week or so if needed.

 

As for Vudu's pick... I saw a woman do a Ted Talk a few months ago about her school in Afghanistan. I don't recall the name but this story sounds very familiar to the woman I saw. I'd bet that lady and this one are the same person.

[vuduchile 1,941]

Reformer:

 

Frederick Douglas

 

Escaped slave, leading abolitionist, author and orator.

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Douglass

[iam90sbaby 2,144]

Okay guys, I'm back!

[BiPolarBear 476]

Dung this up. Thought it was one of the funnies scenes ever.

 

[Voltaire 4,578]

Okay guys, I'm back!

 

Glad to see it!

 

I have good news for you. Not only did you get all the people that you wanted so far, but all the people you have on the list are still out there as well. Not one person swiped.

 

One note: You already have four criminals and another one is in the kicker. I was going to skip his name on the priority list, but now that you're back, you can decide what to do.

[titans&bucs&bearsohmy! 2,745]

Ray Kroc - businessman

 

Built the most successful restaurant chain on the planet. Nuff said.

[titans&bucs&bearsohmy! 2,745]

 

Yo-Yo Ma

馬友友

 

Artist (performing)

 

 

Background information

Born October 7, 1955 (age 60)

Paris, France

Genres Classical

Occupation(s) Cellist, educator

Instruments Cello

Years active fl. ca. 1961present

Labels CBS, RCA, Sony Classical

Associated acts Silk Road Ensemble

Website yo-yoma.com

Notable instruments

Violoncello

Antonio Stradivari 1712 'Davydov'

Domenico Montagnana 1733 'Petunia'

Yo-Yo Ma (born October 7, 1955) is a French-born Chinese American[1] cellist. Born in Paris, he spent his schooling years in New York City and was a child prodigy, performing from the age of five. He graduated from the Juilliard School and Harvard University and has enjoyed a prolific career as both a soloist performing with orchestras around the world and a recording artist. His 90+ albums have received 18 Grammy Awards.

 

In addition to recordings of the standard classical repertoire, he has recorded a wide variety of folk music such as American bluegrass music, traditional Chinese melodies, the tangos of Argentinian composer Ástor Piazzolla, and Brazilian music. He also collaborated with Grammy Award-winning jazz/reggae singer Bobby McFerrin. During the Dixie Chicks' controversial tour of 2005-6, Ma backed them playing cello as sideman, assisting in the string arrangements for the band.

 

Ma's primary performance instrument is a Montagnana cello built in 1733 valued at US$2.5 million.

 

He was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 2001,[2] Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011, and the Polar Music Prize in 2012.[3]

 

http://youtu.be/dZn_VBgkPNY