Did the Soviets Embarrass the US with Space Pencils? (The Story of the Fisher Space Pen)

Today’s video is many things — a story, a fact check, a review. If you’ve ever seen the meme about how Americans overcomplicated their writing utensils during the Space Race while the Soviets “just used a pencil,” you owe it to yourself to get the real story, and maybe pick up a Space Pen of your own.

Music: Summer Folk, by Young Rich Pixies, from artlist.io

How it’s made video from Fisher: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mjmAzf4oKs

Where Does My Paycheck Go?

If you have a traditional job, every time you get paid, there may be a lingering question in your mind. Somehow, the amount of this paycheck doesn’t come out to my hours times my pay. Why?

On today’s video, we’re going to dig deep into the gap between “gross income” and “net income.” What lives in the space there? Is that money stolen by the government for taxes? What is it used for? How much do I get to keep (or get back)?

Today’s Trav Talk: Where Does My Paycheck Go?

=============================================

Like the video? Please subscribe, share, or donate to let me know you want to see more big projects like this one!

PayPal: https://bit.ly/37ZNbAm

=============================================

Music: “Stomp” by Rex Banner (from artlist.io)

Sources and Links:

Thanks for watching!

Does Your Vote Count?

Does Your Vote Count?

The 2020 election has concluded, and it’s time for a review. Unlike 2016, the 2020 electoral vote leaned the same direction as the popular vote. Even so, there were plenty of flaws, and plenty of risk now and in the future.

In Trav Talks #4, we talk about how and why the Electoral College system is an active volcano… one that has gone off 5 times in US history, and bigger eruptions are possible if we don’t address it.

Luckily, there are some very good, practical, feasible ways that we can fix it and strengthen our union.

Relevant Links:

Like the video? Please subscribe, share, or donate to let me know you want to see more big projects like this one!

PayPal: https://bit.ly/37ZNbAm

Music: Rose Colored Glasses by Lance Conrad (from artlist.io) Thanks for watching!

Why is the US in so much DEBT?

It’s finally here… my biggest and most ambitious project yet. In this video, we’re going to take a look at the last 40 years of the US economy and see what we can learn about government spending, taxation, the effects of stimulus, and all of these things’ impact on economic growth and unemployment. Liked the video? Please subscribe, share, or donate to let me know you want to see more big projects like this one!

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/travislane

PayPal: https://bit.ly/37ZNbAm

Sources:

Law and Order

“Law and Order” is a headline topic right now. But while we all want a more peaceful society, we couldn’t be more divided on how best to achieve it.

I’m concerned that some of us are actively working against our own interests. Let’s talk about it today in this new video.


References:

1) Thinking Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman Purchase here: https://amzn.to/3aogBrb

2) Household Poverty And Nonfatal Violent Victimization, 2008-2012 Erika Harrell, Ph.D., Lynn Langton, Ph.D., Bureau of Justice Statistics, Marcus Berzofsky, DrPH, Lance Couzens, Hope Smiley-McDonald, Ph.D., RTI International https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/household-poverty-and-nonfatal-violent-victimization-2008-2012

3) FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) 2017 https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2017/crime-in-the-u.s.-2017/topic-pages/robbery?fbclid=IwAR1xqA4yWpZfgPy3yJi2qNmm6JkNvuBsyuu9vX6rbY0-jfkWEnndhFzdBP4#:~:text=In%202017%2C%20the%20average%20dollar,loss%20at%20%243%2C483%20per%20offense

4) Statistical Correlations of Criminal Behavior, Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statistical_correlations_of_criminal_behaviour?fbclid=IwAR23HwVNzfA4ecSVoY7DKoytf_BgW4nul49_IOEck0KdITi8aRhgavJtK8A