Why Did Czechoslovakia split?

There were two main reasons that Czechoslovakia split into two countries in 1993.
1. There was a blossoming of Slovak nationalism after the Iron Curtain fell — although not in any violent or extreme way when compared to the various nations of the former Yugoslavia, for example.
   
   I think it was more that some Slovaks felt they were treated by Prague as “Czech’s little brother”, in a sense, and wanted to ‘'make it on their own.”
2. Politicians saw a chance to attain and/or consolidate their power(and wealth) by creating another state with a separate parliament, government et al. This is the MAIN reason for the split.
With the waning of Russian power and the prospect of both countries becoming involved NATO/EU membership, there was no real security reason to stay together. The original state of Czechoslovakis was something that Woodrow Wilson and the League of Nations carved from the ruins of the Austrian-Hungarian empire in 1918, so it is not as if they had a long historical tradition together as a country, despite the obvious similiarities in culture and language — distinct cultures and languages to be sure, but very similar.

There was really no rancor; no build up of tensions; no riots; no Molotov cocktails; no vicious crackdowns of truncheon and plastic shields. These countries are peaceful.
A lot of Czechs today still feel pride about the natural beauty of Slovakia and there are many Slovaks living integrated lives in the Czech Republic. My dentist, one of my employees and several of my students are Slovak, for example.
AS these things go, I think that the peaceful “Velvet Divorce”, as it is called, should be considered a model.
Written Sept 12

ASOIAF: Does Stannis like Davos?

“Like”. “Stannis.”

There is something weird about those two words together. Something seems off.

Stannis had gratefulness to Davos for saving him during the siege of Storm’s End.

Stannis had respect for Davos, at his unerring since of righteousness and his strong-willed acceptance of his punishment.

I think that when Stannis cut off Davos’ finger tips, the two of them staring into each other’s eyes, they made a deep inarticulate, yet unbreakable bond.

I think Stannis appreciates Davos’ no nonsense way of putting things. His utter frankness, his relative lack of fear, the way he doesn’t flatter.

Stannis doesn’t need flattery. Stannis needs someone with a developed conscience to advise him.

He values Davos’s conscience and his ability to be frank about it.

Because Stannis has problems with the human sides of things, he needs Davos’ humanity to help him bear his responsibilities; to help him see the right side of the line when it’s not clear.

Stannis does not like anyone.

He LOVES Davos, though.

Written Sept 9

ASOIAF/GOT: how responsible is Catelyn for the War?

If Bran had listened to Catelyn and had refrained from climbing the tower, Joffrey doesn’t send the assassin after Bran. How responsible is Bran for starting the War?

If Cersei and Jaime don’t commit treason by fucking in an abandoned tower, Bran never sees him and never gets defenestrated. How responsible are Jaime and Cersei for the War?.

If Lysa never kills JOn Arryn, Ned never travels south. How responsible is Lysa for the War?

If Joffrey hadn’t set the assassin after Bran, Littlefinger doesn’t frame Tyrion. How responsible is Joffrey for the War?

If Tywin doesn’t choose to send an army into the Riverlands, slaughtering innocent smallfolk, killing their livestock, burning their homes and fields, then there is no war. How responsible is Tywin for the War?

If Arya doesn’t humiliate Joffrey at the Ruby Ford, maybe Joffrey doesn’t kill Ned(who knows?) How responsible is Arya for the War?

If LIttlefinger doesn’t lie to Catelyn about the dagger, Catelyn at most gives Tyrion her icy shoulder at the Inn. War does not begin.

How responsible is LIttlefinger for the War?

Out of all these people only ONE person was TRYING to create a civil war. And he would have kept trying. He did it by persuading Lysa to kill Jon Arryn. He did it by lying to Catelyn about the dagger.

What would he have tried next? We’ll never know because Catelyn and Tyrion happened to meet in the Inn at the Crossroads.

A chance meeting, as they say in Bree.

Written Sept 9

ASOIAF: What role does Falia Flowers' play in Euron Greyjoy's plan?

Major spoilers: Falia is Lord Hewett’s natural-born daughter. Euron takes her as his salt-wife after taking the Shield Islands and showers her with favors. However, Euron then decides to use her for some strange ritual after cutting out her tongue.

Falia Flowers is carrying King Euron’s unborn child in her womb.

Euron is not just murdering his brother Aeron and Falia Flowers and their unborn child for the fun of it. He is cruel as hell and he definitely enjoys it but make no mistake:

He is not just murdering them. He is sacrificing them in a weird ritual designed to do something terrible: raise a tsunami; or summon unknown forces or beings from the sea—or both.

And I don’t think it is only those two(plus one) he is planning to sacrifice. He making a mass sacrifice and many of the ships of the navy he is sailing with are going to be destroyed with all the human life aboard them as well.

He is conducting is a mass sacrifice of dozens or hundreds of human lives, maybe more if it ends up destroying Old Town, which I believe is one of Euron’s specific goals.

All of those lives are spearheaded by the most important one for the ritual: Euron’s unborn fetus in Falia Flowers womb, which has of course, King’s Blood.

The Sea of Blood that Moqorro sees in his fires is (almost) literal.

"One most of all. A tall and twisted thing with one black eye and ten long arms, sailing on a sea of blood."

—A Dance of Dragons.

Written Sept 12

ASOIAF/Game of Thrones: What are your thoughts on the character of Lyanna Mormont in Game of Thrones?

My feelings are complicated.

I love the actress who plays the role. I think she does a great job. And I am glad they have at least some character in the North who supports the Starks just because they are the Starks.

One of the things that I hate about the show is the fact that questions of principle and honor are completely thrown out of the window and everything is boiled down to the win-or-you-die principle. What this does to the characters in the book is disturbing.

• it makes Ned Stark look stupider than he is.
• it makes Jon Snow look like a goddamn fool.
• it turns the Northerners into a bunch of dirty, smelly beardos scrabbling after mere existence.
• it means that no character has any other possible ending to their story other than a violent death…or, er, victory, I guess.

It is the third point that bothers me, in respect to this Lyanna Mormont question.

---

“Foes and false friends are all around me, Lord Davos. They infest my city like roaches, and at night I feel them crawling over me.” The fat man’s fingers coiled into a fist, and all his chins trembled. “My son Wendel came to the Twins a guest. He ate Lord Walder’s bread and salt, and hung his sword upon the wall to feast with his friends. And they murdered him. Murdered, I say, and may the Freys choke upon their fables. I drink with Jared, jape with Symond, promise Rhaegar the hand of my own beloved granddaughter…but never think that means I have forgotten. The north remembers, Lord Davos. The north remembers, and the mummer’s farce is almost done. My son is home.”

Wyman Manderly, A Dance with Dragons

The North Remembers monologue , as told by Manderly to Davos, with Glover standing at his side, is one of the most stirring bits of the series to date; it really brought a tear to my eye and a chill to my bones. I gasped in pleasant surprise and pumped my fist in the air when I read it. Eddard Stark’s death on the steps of Baelor’s Sept was not in vain! You realize that the Starks’ brand of tough-headed no-bullshit honor and strength is something that wins them loyalty: in the context of the culture of the North it is wise,it is smart. To the point where the entire North will gladly betray the Iron Throne and its southron appointees to protect and raise up the Starks(and, of course, in doing so, gain a little more political might for their own house.)

Because you know it goes beyond Manderly and Glover. Indeed book!Lyanna Mormont does give the first inkling that something is going on underneath the surface of Northern politics with her letter to Stannis professing no loyalty but to “the King in the North, whose name is Stark.” And the rest of the Northerners who are marching with Stannis…what do they know? How loyal are they? We know a Liddle has helped Bran and his companions, so the Mountain Clans with Stannis presumably know about Bran, right?  What about Robb’s will legitimizing and making Jon his heir? How many people know that in the North? Are the Umbers, whose loyalties are split in the books between the Boltons and Stannis playing a complex game of deception? And so on.

The fact that the North is covertly supporting the reinstitution of the Stark line is a revelation as shocking in its way as the Red Wedding...only it is shocking in a good way.

Plus Frey pies. Never has cannibalism tasted so good.

(I mean, I know the show did Frey pies too. But the way they did it frankly sucked, it felt like a cheesy made-for-TV horror movie straight out of the seventies and made Arya look like an evil psycho rather than a traumatized child going for self-empowerment.)

Now, it is not like it is not possible for intrigues and politics this complex to be shown on screen. The Godfather I and II are excellent examplea of a highly intricate, complex political situation among the gang families of New York and the USA, the US government and so on jostling against each other, all portrayed on screen.

But the show ditched that bit. Maybe they felt they didn’t have time to show these depths in a ten episode season. Or maybe it doesn’t fit the series’ overall themes of brutality and strength always winning the day or death being the absolute worst fate for anyone.

But I think it is mostly that the show writers just don’t have the chops to pull it off. So instead we have a bunch of Northerners who blindly follow the Boltons, despite the fact that it makes no sense: why would anybody follow a psychopath who cruelly kills the babies of his House’s allies, who slays his own people —for no reason!-- and displays them for all the world to see, who viciously raped the daughter of the man who headed the House that ruled them wisely for a thousand years*. Ramsay Bolton is so politically incompetent that you can’t imagine him holding on to power for more than a year or so….I mean, how cowardly and pussified are the show! Northerners!?

Except for one ten year old girl. I mean, think about it. 

It takes a ten year old girl to make them all feel bad.

 Because, you know, children are fools who still have ideals. Adults don’t — shouldn’t — have ideals. Honor and honesty is for bedtime stories, not real life.

Yuck. 

No, the character is fine. The actress is adorable and kicks ass.

But her place in the story really, really bothers me.

*a thousand years is stated in the show. I know in the books it is supposedly 3000-8000 years. (Depending on which maester you believe, of course. Like the Reader and Samwell, I’m inclined to go with the lower number.)

Written Sept 19

ASOIAF/Game of Thrones: Who is smarter, Roose or Ramsay Bolton?

Roose, by a long shot. He has the long-term smarts that helped him move things towards his own higher positioning and, eventually, the Stark downfall.

• He deliberately threw the Battle of the Green Fork, killing off or making captive many of his neighbours.
• He had his bastard seize Lady Hornwood’s lands, thus keeping Manderly from it.
• He betrayed Robb Stark outright when he sent an army to go down in terrible defeat at Duskendale.
• He let Jaime go when he knew Robb was looking for him.
• He was one of the main architects of the Red Wedding.
• His son, almost certainly with his approval, sacked Winterfell and wiped out another northern army.

And he did it all with plausible deniability. Once the secret was out, he was Lord of the North and ally of the Iron Throne.

All that took. planning, patience and deep political smarts. People around him don’t trust him. He scares them with his quietude and lack of emotion. But that is not a bad thing when you have power.

Ramsay, by contrast, has in-the-moment smarts. He spends his time being cruel to people, torturing them and making them fear. As a result he has to be keenly observant of his victims, gauging how far he can push them; always on the lookout for the knife in the back. He has to play his minions against each other, using the overall fear of him to manipulate them into sucking up to him. This is also kind of a political thing, but it is very limited to his personal surroundings; overall his devil-may-care attitude about who finds out about his monstrosities is his downfall. Anybody NOT in his immediate power just hates him and would never follow him.

Roose wins this one by a mile. Even if Ramsay ends up killing him, as it was in the show, we definitely can say that Roose had a longer run terrorizing his own country, raping the peasants with impunity, flaying the occasional human for sport than Ramsay will ever have.

Written Septermber 7

ASOIAF: Who will Daenerys marry in Westeros?

I think it will be Victarion.

Of course there are no shortage of eligible bachelors in Westeros. But to narrow it down ,I assume that she would want to marry into a high family, one of the so-called Great Houses and not spend her days with Pate the shepherd or Wat the Candlestick-maker.

So here are the eligible bachelors with some upsides and some drawbacks:

• Willas Tyrell. He’s smart. He plays music. He is probably handsome, at least he has the genes for handsomness. Rules the Reach, at least once Mance Tyrell is dead.
  
  Drawbacks:
• crippled.
• may be homosexual (fan theory—I don’t buy it.)
• Aegon VI. Supposedly her nephew. Incest box checked. Good looking.
  
  Drawbacks.
• Will already be married to Arianne when she gets there; will have to be gotten rid of before Dany could rule.
• Jaime Lannister: Good looking. Good guy all around. Too impulsive, but no more than Dany. Otherwise smarter than she is.
  
  Drawbacks.
• killed her father.
• Has a tendency to kill rulers.
• Robert Arryn. Rules the Vale. Ostensibly.
  
  Uh. That is his only asset.
  Drawbacks:
• Got some “shaking” disease.
• drug addict.
• socially retarded. In a big way.
• brat.
• Jon Snow. (Assuming he ends up ruling the North in the books, which I think is a very safe bet.) He is a relative, check.
  
  Violent side which turns her on, check.
  
  Probable dragon rider, check.
  Same age, basically.
  
  Can relate to the disastrous ruler thing.
  
  Drawbacks:
• mopey.
• done with women after Ygritte.
• might end up doing his barely pubescent cousin rather than his aunt.
• Tyrion. Smart as all get out, can make her vision happen.
  
   Will rule Casterly Rock after he gets rid of Cersei and Jaime.
  
  Super rich.
  
  Has some empathy towards her.
  
  Drawbacks:
• too resentful.
• ugly.
• premature ejaculator supreme.

OK, those possibilities are out of the way.

Now, let’s talk about who she is going to marry.

I think it is Victarion.

That is Victarion’s plan. Of course, Victarion is an idiot, a big brutish killer who is being manipulated by his brother Euron , who wants Vic to get Dany and her dragons to Westeros so he can take one. I see two possibilities for Victarion. Either he gets inadvertantly fried by the dragons. Or his dumb plan actually works. He’s got the danger going for him that edgy brutishness that gets Dany wet.

Some people think that it won’t work, though. And that she will marry Euron.

I can see that too. In fact, he is even more her type than Victarion — because he has that mischievous side like Daario— you know that mischievous side that rapes his brother Aeron and sacrifices him alongside Euron’s unborn son and his high-born sex slave in order to summon a tsunami —mark the words — to destroy Oldtown. Hi-freaking-larious.

But it’s one of them that she will marry. Victarion or Euron.

My money is on Victarion: (meta-evidence: the quip about Daenerys marrying Yara in the show. Felt like the kind of nod Benioff and Weiss make to GRRM and the readers when they change stuff. So, in the show she will NOT marry but will forge a partnership with Yara.)

No matter who she marries, she is going to end up fighting Euron and I would not be surprised if he ends up killing her.

The dragons are just too convenient in fighting the icy Others. They’ve got to be either eliminated or at least reduced in number.

Written September 12th

ASOIAF: Who would be best on the Iron Throne?

TLDR: Dany, Aegon, or Jon Snow.

 I think they need more of a Constitutional Monarchy, personally. I’m not saying that they need full-blown Parliamentary Democracy a la modern day UK.

But I think they need to codify the Hand/King relationship.

I feel the King should be the charismatic figureheard that the people . Not powerless but not all-powerful; the one with a vision for Westeros. Worthy of respect. The Chairman of the Board.
But able to be overruled, even deposed, if necessary.

The Hand is the implementer of that vision; but also the advisor who is de facto equal to the King and is trusted enough to overrule him. The Director or CEO, perhaps even chosen by the Lords Paramount and other members of the Small Council.

But the Hand should have more power than he does….I mean, sometimes he does. Tywin for example may have wielded power far more than Aerys, for example. But each king seems to see the Hand differently.

Stannis has problems.
I admire his will, which is almost super human; I like his committement to justice; and I love his tendencies to reward merit with power and position. His
Weakness: He is ridiculously unlikeable and pisses the nobles off too much. If the Lords all rebel against the King, and the King is then duty-bound to punish all of them…well, you just get endless war. That kind of thing would feed himself. And while Davos is an excellent adviser and Hand in some ways, Westerosi’s native snobbery weakens his position considerably. Stannis deserves a place in government: the Master of Laws, perhaps. Not king.


Renly. A lot of people like Renly. Readers and characters alike.
He is smart, politically clever, charasmatic, dresses well, looks like a king.
Weakness: The problem with Renly is he is Tyrell puppet, essentially. And he really doesn’t care a fig for the Realm.
A Renly kingship puts too much in Tyrell hands, which makes their neighbours resentful and, yes, eventually might spell war. Renly is the perfect modern politician, perhaps. But as a king…he has no real vision other than the glorification of his own image.



Aegon VI. Aegon VI is probably the best candidate on paper. He has training and education; speaks several languages; has been deliberately brought up in the most non-pampered way possible. He’s good enough, he is smart enough, and doggone it, people like him. He has the Look and the charisma. He has courage. Like all the candidates, he needs a strong and competent and wise hand to help him govern.
Weakness: a bit impulsive, prone to fits of anger. Not deal breakers either one as long as he has a Hand to rein him in.



Cersei: Forget it. She’s pretty much sent the Realm down the privy hole since Tywin was murdered. It’s difficult to even find a single strength. She’s vain, narcissistic, stupid, careless, paranoid and needlessly cruel. Included only for the sake of complete.



Tyrion. POlitically smart; even smarter and more knowledgeledgable now that he realizes that even he can be played like a piece by players like Varys and Illyrio Mopatis. A competent and hard-working technocrat. But a liability in the ablist society of Westeros.Does what needs to be done, but does not lack compassion. Perhaps the ideal Hand, if he is able to curb his urges for vengeance.
Weakness: A non-starter in the ablist society of WEsteros. Would unite the snobs of the realm against him. Hand, not king. Wiper, not shitter.



Daenerys: has otherworldly charisma, strong and potent enough to be the symbol of a politically earthshaking revolution in Essos. . Has a strong vision, and seems to genuinely care — enough to at least try to stop making the same mistakes. Her vision for Westeros perhaps not unlike AEgon V’s unpopular vision of greater human rights for the Smallfolk but she has greater charisma (and is far stronger) than Aegon V ever was.
Weaknesses: has a bad temper and has shown that she is not afraid to act on it. Not politically astute. But with a very strong, very wise, very competent Hand that she listens too—and we really don’t know if she is going to listen to Tyrion in the books, though the show seems to be leading that way— I think she would be good.


Jon Snow: By the time he gets, there, if he gets there, I think it is safe to assume that all of the above would be wiped out; the Others would be defeated. A new glorious age, perhaps with regular seasons, will have begun. By that time I would think that he would be very good; he is politically astute; has vision; cares for humans; he’s observant and smart and his position as bastard has taught him toto control himself than Daenerys or Aegon.
Weakness: the type to ignore pageantry and bombast; a relative ascetic who eschews the trappings of power. More human and likeable than Stannis but with some of his stubbornness. Thus far, at least, not concerned with persuading his subordinates of his vision when it is unpopular: a “"my way or the highway”" type vision of rulership that doesn’t go over well with High Lords.o. Needs a smart, very diplomatic and preferably southron Hand to help him out there.
Out of all of them, I’d probably choose in this order:

1. Jon. (with Tyrion as Hand.)
2. Dany(with Tyrion as Hand.)
3. AEgon (with Tyrion as Hand, because Connington is dying.

Ultimate Bucket List: what should I do before I die?

I may be considered by many to be "young", but life is unpredictable, and I would like to experience the most out of life and the world that we live in. I'm sure many of you, young and old, share my sentiments as well. So what are the things that one should do before you die? It can be seeing, travelling, achieving, listening, experiencing,... 

YOu know, I've never been one for ‘'bucket lists.’' One can’t truly appreciate things if you are busy checking them off and everyone is going to be a little different. But here is my list.

1. Have a child. This is the most groundshaking experience I’ve ever had. The first moment I saw my son take breath was a moment that rocked me to the core. I felt connected to him and my girlfriend and to my own parents and all my ancestors and to everyone in the human race in a profound way that I can’t fully explain.
   
   NOTE: I realize that not everyone desires a child; and I think that’s fine. But if you do, it is definitely worth it.
2. If possible, go to university outside of your hometown. Many people, of course, are kept from doing this by monetary pressures. But if it’s possible, I think it’s crucial. Moving away from home when you are young helps drive home that there are many different methods of living life and many different ways of looking at it. For example, my own family was poor and relatively unambitious to life. When I went to university I came up against people whose families were more middle class. I realized that they all shared something that my family didn’t have. A sense of possibility, a relative fearlessness of failure. This sense of possibility helps fuel ambition, which of course fuels sucess.
3. Pursue your dreams. as many as you can. When you are young you should dream. There are so many possibilities when you are young. The infinite amount of possibilities that you have shrinks as you get older. Few young people realize that the sense of possibilities, the sheer range of potential choices they have, will not last forever. When you are older many choices are dictated by job, family, responsibilities. There is nothing wrong with that. That is natural. But older people miss the possibilities they have. (That is, ultimately, what mid-life crises are all about.)
   
   Realize NOW that NOW is the time to do all the things that you will otherwise wish you’d tried when you were older.
   
   There will be a time when you will start making choices and you will settle down and your dreams will seem more limited. that’s the cycle of life. Recognize that there is a time to come down to earth. But when you are young, don’t be afraid to put your head in the clouds.
4. Get dumped. Seriously. Fall in love. Hard. So hard you can’t see straight. So hard you don’t act rationally. Get dumped. It’s painful. So painful. And not any less painful for the fact that nearly everyone has been through it. But you learn so much about yourself when you are dumped. You learn to understand in a visceral way that the world does not always work the way you want it to. You learn that you yourself are not the shining angel you think yourself to be. You learn to learn and grow from experience. You learn that other people are their own entities with their own will and soul.
5. Move abroad. Don’t just go to the beach in a foreign country on holiday. Spend a year or two there. If you are young and without a family do it. Do it for the experience, You don’t have to stay in a different country. Just live there for a year or two. Doing so will broaden your mind. It will
1. most likely help you learn a new language
2. acquaint you with a culture that is different —yet in some ways, surprisingly similar — to yours.
3. allow you to see your own country through the eyes of an outsider, which few people have a chance to be.
4. allow you to know yourself better, as you are better able to see your actions divorced of culture.
5. introduce you to different people and different viewpoints.
   
   
   After living abroad you may choose to go back to the comforts of home. But you will be wiser for it; and you will have more empathy for visitors or immigrants to your country. And maybe speak a new language, which might serve you well in a professional career. Personally, I wish I had done it younger than I did. 

For me, I’m glad I went through a long phase single. I’m glad that I went through pain and heartbreak. I am glad I went through a sleazy phase where I slept with a lot of women. I’m glad I lived the life of an artist.

All of these phases had their ups and downs, their failures and their triumphs, but as I sit here at 45 looking at my beautiful son and my comfortable life, it’s definitely not the things that I failed at that I regret. It is the things that I didnt have the confidence to try or the things I didnt do when I could have.

Take risks! Talk to strangers! Ask that girl or boy out! Submit your short story! Audition for that musical! I spent so much of my life nearly-paralyzed by fear of rejection. If I was immortal that would be OK. But, you know…you are not mortal. And the older you get, the shorter your life gets. Until you get to a point that you realize that all of us are nothing more than flashes in the pan.

Written Sept 1

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