Fw: Next Chaos meeting

[Peter G. Sobol]

Reminiscence from Jim Blair about his time in the Philippines:

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From: Jim Blair <jeb...@wisc.edu>
Sent: Sunday, November 12, 2023 9:57 PM
To: Peter G. Sobol <pgs...@wisc.edu>
Subject: Re: Next Chaos meeting

 

Hi,

Here is what I remember about the Philippine-American War, 1989 -1902.

The US military was using the Colt 45 caliber automatic pistol as its standard sidearm when I was in the USNR in 1954.  Word was that it had replaced a 38 cal  revolver because the 38 did not have enough stopping power when used against the Hukbalahap rebels (aka "huks") in the Philippians, during our war there.

Why were we fighting the Huks?  Why were we in the Philippians in the first place? 

As a seaman first class in the Navy Reserve, those questions were "above my pay grade" to deal with.  But that 45 automatic had a real kick when fired.

Feel free to share my experience with the group, since I probably won't be able to make the discussion 😒

Jim

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From: 'Peter G. Sobol' via chaos-cs <chao...@g-groups.wisc.edu>
Sent: Sunday, November 12, 2023 8:47 PM
To: chao...@g-groups.wisc.edu <chao...@g-groups.wisc.edu>
Subject: Next Chaos meeting

 

The next meeting of the Chaos and Complex Systems will take place on Tuesday, 14 November at noon in the Founders Room on the second floor of the Memorial Union (we were in that room several time last winter). We will discuss Foreign Aid. Guillermo has provided the attached document to get us started.

[Allard Terry]

Peter— Attached is a 2-page write-up and an additional 4 figures for next Tuesday’s Chaos & Complex systems discussion. Please ask everyone to make their own copies for the meeting. 

The first page is basically a fact sheet lifting heavily from Pew Research Center articles and USAfacts.org. I hope people will read the first page on their own before the meeting. 

The 2nd page has my speculations about root causes, perceived pro’s and cons, and policy considerations. Hopefully we’ll spend the most discussion in these latter complex topics leading toward ideas on what the US should do moving forward. 

Of course this is a huge topic that could easily encompass a full semester's attention (or a career). But we might be able to make some headway on some of the basic facts and issues. I look forward to everybody’s insights (and corrections / additions). 

See you all on Tuesday. —Terry