1 My wife is in Tokyo. I think I'll tell her to remind all of her employees of this.

2 BOOM!

3

How about a good Prager U video on Hiroshima?

http://tinyurl.com/ldjmhvd

4 Mess with the bull, you get the horns - Breakfast Club Teacher

5 And if they didn't, I probably wouldn't be here today. My grandfather was in Australia training for the invasion of Japan that never happened. While he was there, he met a beach bunny that became my grandmother.

6 Paul Tibbets has no regrets: an interview with Studs Terkel.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/aug/06/nuclear.japan

7 This is the anniversary of maybe the second greatest day in my future life. My dad was on Iwo Jima and headed for Japan if they had not dropped the bomb. Probably would not be here today save for "little boy" and "Fat man".

8 I have always wished the USAF had kept a maintained a fleet of B-29s so that they could be flown over Japan every Aug 6.

They should drop leaflets. You know: "Hi, guys!"

9 Today is also my birthday, so apparently Little Boy wasn't the only bomb that got dropped on this date.

10

My brother's teacher one told him "Truman was the worst president ever" because he dropped the bomb. (Sure there are reasons to call Truman a bad president, I'm not sure the Bomb is up there with them.)

 

Morons teaching our kids simply can't handle any moral grey.  Everything is either "horrifically wrong!" or "The best ever."  No nuance.

BTW, this was not a public school sadly.

11 And if they didn't, I probably wouldn't be here today.

I think there's a lot of us like that.  My grandfather was already married to my grandmother, but my father wasn't born until after he returned home.

12 Now I've got The Gap Band in my brain while I finish cardio.

13 My grandpa was a medic in the Pacific Theatre. Some of the stories he told about stuff the Japanese did in the Phillipines would turn your stomach. No doubt the Japanese would have fought like demons in their homeland. Speaking of disasters, anyone seen "The Impossible"? Watched it with the wife last night. True story of one family's experiences during the 2004 tsunami. I find it ironic the left is ready to invest billions on an ephemeral problem like climate change when a much smaller investment in something like a tsunami warning system could return immediate and obvious benefits.

14 Happy bday JohnTant!

15 I'm really liking this Tibbets guy.

"So we're coming down. We get to that point where I say "one second" and by the time I'd got that second out of my mouth the airplane had lurched, because 10,000lbs had come out of the front. I'm in this turn now, tight as I can get it, that helps me hold my altitude and helps me hold my airspeed and everything else all the way round. When I level out, the nose is a little bit high and as I look up there the whole sky is lit up in the prettiest blues and pinks I've ever seen in my life. It was just great."

16 Christie/Rubio 2016: The Return of Fat Man and Little Boy

17 How about a good Prager U video on Hiroshima?

http://tinyurl.com/ldjmhvd

Link = FUBAR, although it's salvageable.

18 Happy bday JohnTant

19 What's this about dropping a little boy on a 68 year old?

20 >>>My brother's teacher one told him "Truman was the worst president ever" because he dropped the bomb

Ugh, this is why teachers should simply teach the facts.

Memorization in school was mocked by the baby boomer generation, because the thought was that kids should learn the lessons of history, rather than memorize a bunch of dates.  My God, the baby boomer generation was stupid.

Most teachers are simple people with crappy bachelors degrees.  They should stick to the facts, and let the kids think for themselves, instead of force feeding them the "lessons of history".

21 http://preview.tinyurl.com/kbdmpnm
Pretty much what the Colonel said....

22

Yay!

 

The most reprehensible, cruel Imperialist [literally] bastards what ever bayoneted the cheek of a 5 year old Chinese boy [true story - I knew the guy] got bombed *only 2 times* with nukes and now the Japs 1] don't have an army and 2] take pictures, nod, smile, and make us cars.

 

Conclusion: Nukes = World Peace

23 With Hiroshima there was a large mushroom cloud.  Same with Nagasaki.  But no burning city.  Just a burnt city.  So is the whole "Nuclear Winter" thing another sciencey-tific tactic to make nuclear arms even worse than they already are?  A "Don't think you might escape" message?  I just don't see a lot of lingering smoke in the photos of any nuclear bomb photos.

24 My father was in Tacoma, Washington preparing to be shipped out as an Army medic for the invasion of the Japanese mainland.  He had married my mother in January (they met in an Army hospital) and she was expecting my older brother in November, back home in Tennessee with her parents.  His unit was told to expect 80% casualties.  The Japanese also did not honor the Red Cross and many medics were killed in that theater. 

25 >>>Link = FUBAR, although it's salvageable.

Oops, sorry.  Here is the Prager University video on Hiroshima:

http://tinyurl.com/m6n56mk

Very good video, and it is great to send to friends who are curious/confused about the topic!

26 Is it wrong to think that this is what should have been done in Afghanistan about two days after 9/11?

27 Anyone ever see the Hiroshima memorial?  It makes it sound like the US just decided one day to up and drop a bomb in a country that was just minding its own business. 

28 Somehow I suspect 9/11 Museum curator-douchebag Michael Shulan doesn't find any complexity at all in the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  It was American barbarism, straight up.

29 Fuck you, dorphin!  Fuck you, whare!

30 Why, Why, with all this trouble in Towel country , are my gas prices not 10 bucks a gallon?
In the good old day's someone had flatulence in the Middle East and pow...Gas prices rise faster than the incompetence of our Congress..

31 Estimated to have saved the lives of 400,000 Americans and 2 million Japanese.

32 Most here still seem to believe the propaganda that dropping the bomb saved the lives of U.S. soldiers. (Even if it did, mass murdering civilians to save soldiers is still immoral).

The truth is, the Japanese were looking for peace, but couldn't abide the unconditional surrender demand. (And ironically, we accepted a non-conditional surrender in the end anyhow).

Eisenhower on Hiroshima:

"...in [July] 1945... Secretary of War Stimson, visiting my headquarters in Germany, informed me that our government was preparing to drop an atomic bomb on Japan. I was one of those who felt that there were a number of cogent reasons to question the wisdom of such an act. ...the Secretary, upon giving me the news of the successful bomb test in New Mexico, and of the plan for using it, asked for my reaction, apparently expecting a vigorous assent.

"During his recitation of the relevant facts, I had been conscious of a feeling of depression and so I voiced to him my grave misgivings, first on the basis of my belief that Japan was already defeated and that dropping the bomb was completely unnecessary, and secondly because I thought that our country should avoid shocking world opinion by the use of a weapon whose employment was, I thought, no longer mandatory as a measure to save American lives. It was my belief that Japan was, at that very moment, seeking some way to surrender with a minimum loss of 'face'. The Secretary was deeply perturbed by my attitude..."

- Dwight Eisenhower, Mandate For Change, pg. 380

In a Newsweek interview, Eisenhower again recalled the meeting with Stimson:

"...the Japanese were ready to surrender and it wasn't necessary to hit them with that awful thing."

- Ike on Ike, Newsweek, 11/11/63

33 One more:
Admiral William Leahy (Chief of Staff to Presidents Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman)

"It is my opinion that the use of this barbarous weapon at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was of no material assistance in our war against Japan. The Japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender because of the effective sea blockade and the successful bombing with conventional weapons.

"The lethal possibilities of atomic warfare in the future are frightening. My own feeling was that in being the first to use it, we had adopted an ethical standard common to the barbarians of the Dark Ages. I was not taught to make war in that fashion, and wars cannot be won by destroying women and children."

- William Leahy, I Was There, pg. 441.

34 Who said it? "There can be no peace without victory."

35 Posted by: Jason at August 06, 2013 11:19 AM (3o9Xf) Bill Whittle has some news for you.

36 There's an old Bill Whittle video over at PJTV (OK, it's only a few years old) that's available again due to the anniversary.  Should be required watching for pretty much everyone.

http://www.pjtv.com/?cmd=mpg&mpid=56&load=1808

37 Matt Damon!

38 We all know the Enola Gay and Paul Tibbets, but what plane/pilot dropped the second bomb?

39 OT The Kevin Williamson essay on the side bar makes me weep....that is all

40 Hiroshima is alive, Detroit is dead.
So there's that.

41 Now I've got The Gap Band in my brain

I have OMD stuck in my head.

42

Mike Hammer at August 06, 2013 11:21 AM (aDwsi)

 

I think it was Bock's Car, but don't know the pilot.  :ashamed:

43

Hey Jason, rather than plagiarizing an entire webpage, why don't you just link it?

http://www2.vcdh.virginia.edu/HIUS316/mbase/docs/quotes.htm

44

Dropping the bomb marked the last time the U.S. fought an actual "war".  Everything since has been an exercise in awkward tiptoeing, proportional responses and selective targeting more suited to sports teams than nations.

 

If we ever want to dramatically reduce the amount we spend on defense, all we need to do is return the concept of war.

All out, balls to the wall, war.

The kind of war that makes other countries not want to participate.

The kind of war where when the enemy locates anti-aircraft batteries near hospitals, orphanages and mosques, they are all leveled with the proper sized bomb.

 

When civilians feel they are not part of war, then war has no meaning.  If you're willing to place a soldier at risk of being shot, you should be willing to incinerate babies and seniors, along with everything inbetween including puppies.

 

 

45 We all know the Enola Gay and Paul Tibbets, but what plane/pilot dropped the second bomb?


Bocks Car.  Now, what was the name of the ship that delivered Little Boy to Tinian and what famous event happened to it on the return trip?

Hint: Doll's eyes

46 Time to shake up the world again. Drop a nuke on Detroit and it will be flourishing in 40 yearsÂ…...

47 Those two bombs saved the Japanese as a culture, and maybe a race. Simple as that. They saved many more Japanese lives than American. I wonder how many Japanese understand that little fact. Had we had to invade, they would have been destroyed utterly, and the ashes scattered.

48
In September 2009, US Ambassador to Japan John Roos reported to the Obama administration that the Japanese government did not think it was a good idea for President Obama to visit Hiroshima to apologize for the US having dropped an atomic bomb on that city, a secret cable published by Wikileaks revealed.

A senior White House official asserts to ABC News that there was never any plan for the president to apologize for Hiroshima. 

https://tinyurl.com/3bzkk2d



Just waiting for the 70th Anniversary to roll around.....

49 Just to show you how bleeding heart leftist the schools had become. When I was in Jr high, 9th grade actually, I had to go around asking teachers a list of questions for some project. One of the questions was "should Truman have dropped the atomic bomb on japan". I got to my 8th grade science teacher and asked him the question.

He said " No he shouldn't have used the atom bomb, he should have used the hydrogen bomb."

50 Bocks Car. Now, what was the name of the ship that delivered Little Boy to Tinian and what famous event happened to it on the return trip? Hint: Doll's eyes --- USS Indianapolis

51 In answer to a previous inquiry, basically, "choosing between a Mitsubishi and a Subaru, fuck Mitsu for the Zero, and did Subaru even exist in the 40's?"

They did indeed. They used to be called Nakajima.

Hope that clears things up, and what an interesting day to pose the question.

BTW, the Japanese were on our side in WWI, which means that BMW and Mercedes built armaments against us twice, so I'm not being particularly anti-Japanese. I used to have English motorcycles, and we had wars with them twice...

52 The civilian population of Nanking says Bravo!

53 Damn liberal whimps just anguish anguish over the United States defending itself.

That is some sick thinking right there.

54 Damn it, HR!!

55 Having thousands of Americans killed and maimed is just the price that must be paid so that academics and anonymous posters on the Internetz wouldn't have to condemn America as barbarous in its use of the bomb.

56 Speaking of disasters, anyone seen "The Impossible"? Watched it with the wife last night. True story of one family's experiences during the 2004 tsunami. I find it ironic the left is ready to invest billions on an ephemeral problem like climate change when a much smaller investment in something like a tsunami warning system could return immediate and obvious benefits. The left does not want to "fix" anythingÂ….then they would be out of businessÂ…Â….

57 Sure, there were guys who thought dropping the atomic bomb was wrong.  Doesn't mean that they themselves weren't wrong.

I take no joy in the fact, but then I take no joy in the fact of war, period.  It is a necessary evil.

58 >>> Most here still seem to believe the propaganda that dropping the bomb saved the lives of U.S. soldiers. Tell us everything you know about the Battle of Okinawa. >>> The truth is, the Japanese were looking for peace, but couldn't abide the unconditional surrender demand. An interesting assertion. I notice you didn't try to back it up.

59 Now, what was the name of the ship that delivered Little Boy to Tinian and what famous event happened to it on the return trip? Hint: Doll's eyes Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at August 06, 2013 11:23 AM (EQRmv) I don't remember a ship called "Glassy and Lifeless".

60 Leaflets were dropped in Japan to warn the people we were going to drop something terrible on them if they refused to surrender. The Japanese government (military) told the people we were lying. Rest is history. Several years back our invasion plans were declassified. We were expecting over a million casualties. On our side! The Purple Hearts ordered by the War Department were finally used up in 1985, or so I'm told. The occupation troops discovered thousands of airplanes the Japanese could have used on the invasion fleet kamikaze-style. And a people who were prepared to die for their emperor. A grown woman recently stood in our museum and said 'What a pity. Nothing grows there even today.' I told here they planted gardens there in 1946.

61 - Ike on Ike, Newsweek, 11/11/63

Ike was very smart, but not infallible, likewise George Marshall.  We've had this debate many times already, but that isn't really your goal, now is it?

62 My grandmother (a Filipino native who had married my grandfather before WWII) and my dad were in the Philippines for the entire war, spent some time in their camps before she escaped and joined the resistance and helped hide downed American flyers from the Japanese - she got a medal for her actions.  She lost half her brothers to the Japanese.  She did not talk about the war except how much she hated spam, since that was the only food on hand when the Americans finally liberated the Philippines and started handing out food.
I have read some of the revisionists who argue that the bombing was not really necessary. They clearly have their heads up their ass.  It ended the war.  I bet the Chinese, if they had the capability in 1945, would have nuked all the Japanese islands until they glowed.

63

@32

 

Yeah, that's just factually inaccurate.

 

Eisenhower had nothing to do with the Pacific war.

64 The A-bomb is the definition of a necessary evil. That said, I was disappointed to see Happy Atomic Bomb Day on my twitter feed. There is nothing happy about that event.

65 I bet the Chinese, if they had the capability in 1945, would have nuked all the Japanese islands until they glowed. --- Either that or found a way to use incendiary bombs to burn the entire country to the fround.

66 USS Indianapolis
So Jaws was a true story then?

Wait, let me look it up ...young girl bitten in half by shark. . it was only a couple of days ago.

67 And of course, America is to blame for the Japanese being unable to contemplate surrender in A WAR THEY BEGAN without losing 'face', huh, Jason?

You fucking imbecile.

68

It was my belief that Japan was, at that very moment, seeking some way to surrender with a minimum loss of 'face'. The Secretary was deeply perturbed by my attitude..."

 

----------

 

It was Eisenhower's "belief," but how involved was he in the Pacific Theater?  Not very.

 

And even if his belief were fact, the way to win a war against an aggressor who snuck-attack bombed one of your assets is not to allow a 'face-saving' exit from hostilities.  You grind them into the dirt and then piss on the remains.  Notice how the militancy of Japan decreased dramatically after WWII.  Had we allowed 'face-saving,' Japan would have remained a resentful threat against us and our allies.

69 47 Those two bombs saved the Japanese as a culture, and maybe a race. Simple as that. They saved many more Japanese lives than American. I wonder how many Japanese understand that little fact. Had we had to invade, they would have been destroyed utterly, and the ashes scattered. Word. America would have had casualties in the millions, but we would have won. And it would have gotten very, very ugly.

70 55 Having thousands of Americans killed and maimed is just the price that must be paid so that academics and anonymous posters on the Internetz wouldn't have to condemn America as barbarous in its use of the bomb. Heh, wonder what they will say after their husband, wife, kids, parents are killed by the coming nuclear terror attacks??? They are comingÂ….just hope you are far enough away and downwind. Places like DC, NYC, San Fran, LA, Miami, Houston are not safe.

71 There's an old Bill Whittle video over at PJTV (OK, it's only a few years old) that's available again due to the anniversary. Should be required watching for pretty much everyone.

Error at PJTV, Too many Morons going there?

72
Most here still seem to believe the propaganda that dropping the bomb saved the lives of U.S. soldiers. (Even if it did, mass murdering civilians to save soldiers is still immoral).
Posted by: Jason





Oh, now you tell us.

Posted by: Millions of Chinese Civilians Murdered by the Japanese

73 I think someone needs to re-link that picture comparison of Hiroshima and Detroit over the years again...

Oh, and a quote that always seems timely: The best way to quiet a country is a good thrashing, followed by great kindness afterwards. Even the wildest chaps are thus tamed. -- General Sir Charles James Napier GCB, Commander-in-Chief in India (1782 - 1853)

74 Jason-
please describe "shattered jewels".  Go ahead.  Google it.

75

While contemplating this act, consider that even after it was used, the Japanese STILL DIDN'T GET IT!  They did not surrender even after Little Boy showed that 1) the United States had the capability, and 2) The United States had the will to do this.  Their fleet is sunk, their air-force hunted from the skies, their army in a shambles, and they still wanted to fight on.  They needed this shock to wake them up.  Geeze, some people are really thick.

76 Anyone who thinks the bomb wasn't necessary needs to read "Tennozan" by George Feifer, copies available at Amazon for a penny and up. It's about the Battle of Okinawa where more Japanese civilians died than at Hiroshima and Nagasaki put together. The author writes with barely contained rage about modern revisionists that claim the Atomic bombings were unnecessary. The invasion of Japan would have been orders of magnitude worse than Okinawa, for both the Allies and Japan.

77 Yeah, the Japanese were definitely ready to give up. They turned over Okinawa without a fight, didn't they? I remember the stories about how they had a band playing on the beach to welcome the Americans when they came ashore.

78 How come a democrap gets a pass for this but not a Repub?

79 "A grown woman recently stood in our museum and said 'What a pity. Nothing grows there even today.' I told here they planted gardens there in 1946."

Back in 08, while stationed in Sasebo, I went to Nagasaki.
Pretty damn thriving city for being a barren nuclear wasteland.

I'm not advocating that atom bombs foster future city growth.

80 The japanese killed over 100,000 chinese civilians JUST in their search for any Americans of the Doolittle raid. The japanese in those times had a culture that everybody but them were worthless as humans.


They needed to be shown the error of their ways.

81

From the famous Paul Fussell essay, "Thank God for the Atom Bomb," castigating anti-nuke liberals who criticized the decision to drop the bomb:

 

John Kenneth Galbraith is persuaded that the Japanese would have surrendered surely by November without an invasion. He thinks the A-bombs were unnecessary and unjustified because the war was ending anyway. The A-bombs meant, he says, "a difference, at most, of two or three weeks." But at the time, with no indication that surrender was on the way, the kamikazes were sinking American vessels, the Indianapolis was sunk (880 men killed), and Allied casualties were running to over 7,000 per week. "Two or three weeks," says Galbraith. Two weeks more means 14,000 more killed and wounded, three weeks more, 21,000. Those weeks mean the world if you're one of those thousands or related to one of them. During the time between the dropping of the Nagasaki bomb on August 9 and the actual surrender on the fifteenth, the war pursued its accustomed course: on the twelfth of August eight captured American fliers were executed (heads chopped off); the fifty-first United States submarine, Bonefish, was sunk (all aboard drowned); the destroyer Callaghan went down, the seventieth to be sunk, and the Destroyer Escort Underhill was lost. That's a bit of what happened in six days of the two or three weeks posited by Galbraith. What did he do in the war? He worked in the Office of Price Administration in Washington. I don't demand that he experience having his ass shot off. I merely note that he didn't.

82 We had Japanese exchange students when I was a kid. They were mostly grown adults studying English at Bucknell. All of them told the same thing - that their government told the citizens to ignore the warnings we dropped before dropping the bomb. So tragic.

83 Senator Harry Reid ‏@SenatorReid 6 Aug August 6th is an extremely important date in history. On this day, I can use the search term 'Little Boy' all day to my hearts content. Details

84 I'm not advocating that atom bombs foster future city growth.


Hmm. Detroit might be an interesting test case.  I mean, what's the worst that could happen?

85

>>>I take no joy in the fact, but then I take no joy in the fact of war, period. It is a necessary evil.

 

Not going to argue it overmuch, but looking over history I have to conclude that war is the natural state of mankind, as reflected by the lionization of those who end wars by either winning them or making a settled and fair peace. Pacifists are never celebrated, nor considered 'normal'.

 

Sussing out why that is so is the more interesting argument, not the bald assertion of above. My stab: We're all descendents of people who've fought nasty wars, and the pacifists are mostly dead so they never passed on their peaceable genes and culture.

 

And, before the arguments come, no Leftists are not peaceable and they cannot put the genie back in the bottle.

86

Also, on that idiot's claim about the Japanese being ready to surrender.

 

The Japanese weren't ready to surrender after the first atomic bomb was dropped. There was actually an attempted coup by hard liners to prevent any type of surrender after August 6th.

 

Japan would have fought on. Even had we decided not to invade mainland Japan, an full blockade of the island would have resulted in the deaths of millions through starvation. 

87 My definition of a "fair fight" in wartime is "my guys all come home in one piece, and fuck the other guy. Don't start nuthin', won't be nuthin'..."

88 I'm not advocating that atom bombs foster future city growth.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at August 06, 2013 11:32 AM (c8tlE)

Well there goes detroit's last hope.

89 My Dad was in Okinawa on LST 700 waiting for orders to carry troops into the mainland. His ship had already been kamikazed, torpedoed, refitted and reloaded. Invasion ready. I have a personal connection to this bomb. He said no one wanted to go to the mainland after seeing what happened on Okinawa. Thank you Col. Tibbets and crew.

P.S. Now i feel really old since most of the morons here are talking about their Grandfathers.

90 Come to think of it, Obama would've made a great Japanese emperor. I can easily imagine him telling us to ignore similar warnings.

91 I was in Burlington, Vt about three Christmas' ago and some nice ladies had a display up of the shadows of the people that remained on walls after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki along with lit about horrible the US had been to Japan, my wife had to restrain me from having a CTJ conversation with them.

92 the teacher from Breakfast Club... dead. He was also 'Clarence Beaks' in Trading Places.

93 I'm pretty sure he's dead. Dean Wormer is dead. I'm sure of it.

94 87 The Japanese weren't ready to surrender after the first atomic bomb was dropped. There was actually an attempted coup by hard liners to prevent any type of surrender after August 6th.

True dat. They were going to remove the emperor specifically so that he couldn't surrender. It took the second bomb (and the implication that we could keep doing this All. Month. Long.) to force things.

95 Yes, Paul Gleason is dead. Back in 2006.

96 Penfold, I'm glad someone relayed the thanks of this nation to your grandmother. Too bad we couldn't also apologize adequately for the Spam.

When the War is over we'll save three shells, parlez-vous
For Lewis, for Congress, and Alfred Hormel, hinky-dinky parlez-vous

The atomic bomb was responsible for the accession of the greatest emperor Japan ever had, Douglas MacArthur.

97 Beeks.  What happened to Beeks?

98 91 Come to think of it, Obama would've made a great Japanese emperor. I can easily imagine him telling us to ignore similar warnings. Posted by: Y-not at August 06, 2013 11:35 AM (5H6zj) The 'Hope' logo is the new chrysanthemum.

99 might need to take a trip to Udvar-Hazy today. To see Discovery. Yes...that's the ticket

100

101 Too bad Jason hasn't read the statistics on    how many Japanese died daily from conventional bombing.  The faster you win a war, the better for everybody, even the loser.

102 Somebody needs to report to The Barrel.

103 What was the name of the barrel dropped on comatus?

104 Comatus, please report to the barrel. The white zone is for loading and unloading of commenters only.

105 "Those two bombs saved the Japanese as a culture, and maybe a race. Simple as that. They saved many more Japanese lives than American. I wonder how many Japanese understand that little fact. Had we had to invade, they would have been destroyed utterly, and the ashes scattered."

Let's not forget that  our  Red Army  "allies" had plans to sweep into Japan  from the north and east.  I wonder how that would have worked out for the Japanese in the long term - and us as well?

No, the Japanese should be  ashamed it took two nukes to make them see the writing on the wall and thankful it turned out as it did.

106 Mortimer and Randolph Duke... also dead.

107 Niedermeyer, dead!

108 Heh.

109

>>>I'm not advocating that atom bombs foster future city growth.

 

 

How do you know? Has it been tried?

110 I remember hearing about one fellow who almost got arrested in the Hiroshima Peace Park for wearing a T-shirt with a mushroom cloud and the caption "Made in America. Tested in Japan."

111 "Hmm. Detroit might be an interesting test case. I mean, what's the worst that could happen?"


Unconventional thinking...why, almost progressive in a way.
And liberals love progressive thinking, right?


To be clear, I'm just kidding about your comment by itself.
But, I love to torment my Progressive neighbors by using their own twisted logic against them in conversation.

Sort of like climate change denialists, who against mounting evidence, continue to deny the existence of global cooling.

112 Christie/Rubio 2016: The Return of Fat Man and Little Boy

***

This time it's personal.

113

Posted by: Jason at August 06, 2013 11:19 AM (3o9Xf)

 

And thank you for your contribution.

 

Now you will blow me.

114

How fortunate are we that Germany  was not able to get to the bomb first.  It had a lot to do with our preventative measures but if not,  see you later London, see you later all major cities in Russia.  

115 I think that this situation absolutely requires a really futile and stupid gesture be done on somebody's part.

116 @91 Obamahito: "Ignore the phony threats."

117 @comatus

And my grandfather who fought in Europe and Africa, but not the Pacific, would serve spam regularly when we went camping.  My grandmother would just give him the look and not eat it. 

118 We had a teacher tell our class that all the men who flew on the Enola Gay went insane and several had killed themselves or were very unhappy about what they did.  Propaganda.

119 Let's not forget that our Red Army "allies" had plans to sweep into Japan from the north and east. I wonder how that would have worked out for the Japanese in the long term - and us as well?

Posted by: Jaws at August 06, 2013 11:38 AM (4I3Uo)

Stalin would have kept japan as a personal warm weather estate.

120 At least we didn't release the 'bat bomb' on them. Wood and paper cities + bats with incendiary bombs don't turn out so well.

121 82 The A-bombs meant, he says, "a difference, at most, of two or three weeks." Posted by: The Regular Guy at August 06, 2013 11:33 AM (qHCyt) Galbraith was as accurate about military matters as he was about economics, I see.

122 The Japanese weren't ready to surrender after the first atomic bomb was
dropped.

***

They were like Democrats.  Completely unreasonable and out of touch with reality.

123 Some perspective:

http://bit.ly/19IhTdq

124 Yeah,  the Japanese were ready to surrender.  They were just really curious what a second atomic bomb would do and so postponed their planned surrender.  Some say gambling and drinking was involved in the decision.

Some book, page 23.

125 How fortunate are we that Germany was not able to get to the bomb first. It had a lot to do with our preventative measures but if not, see you later London, see you later all major cities in Russia.

Posted by: polynikes at August 06, 2013 11:41 AM (m2CN7)

-

Germany was working on long-range bombers to hit New York, up until the day Hitler switched from demanding bombers to demanding fighters.

126 A 50 minute video? Morons don't have that long an attention span.

127 Come to think of it, Obama would've made a great Japanese emperor. I can easily imagine him telling us to ignore similar warnings. Posted by: Y-not at August 06, 2013 11:35 AM

I don't think so. Hirohito was a bit of a dimbulb, but he had plenty of actual human compassion, something Choom Boy totally lacks.

Hirohito called for the surrender -- at bit late, but he did -- knowing full well it might cost him his life.

Can you imagine our cowardly President Historic First© doing such a thing? I can't.

128 What's the following from? "Dead, Dave. They're all dead, Dave. Everyone's dead, Dave. They're all dead, Dave."

129 i'm wearing my birthday earrings one is fat boy one is little man

130 In keeping with the day's traditions, I will leave italics on until the second barrel hits.

131 129 What's the following from? "Dead, Dave. They're all dead, Dave. Everyone's dead, Dave. They're all dead, Dave." --- Red Dwarf

132 I can't find the link (within the last 2 weeks), but Diana West had a piece discussing FDR's decision to ignore the Pacific War, even tho' that's the only place we had actually been attacked. The anguished, futile waiting in the Philippines for "the aid" that never came, the Bataan Death March, the horrific suffering of the subject peoples at the hands of a truly barbarous invader...
FDR was preoccupied with saving Stalin.
We won the war.
Stalin got half the world.
But not Japan. Why? MacArthur.
They did get half of Korea, b/c of Dean Acheson.



Infiltration, infiltration of our government by Godless Commies. True story.

133 >>What's the following from? Red Dwarf excuse me, DAworf

134 Why do asshole always have to shit on some threads.

135 "Dead, Dave. They're all dead, Dave. Everyone's dead, Dave. They're all dead, Dave."

Twelve years ago: A Space Oddity

136 I always liked the first HOLLY.

137 So to the 'Ready to Surrender' and 'Atomic War Crime' crowd, tell me: How many days is a nation 'Ready to Surrender' before actually doing so?
Posted by: The Obsidian Owl

Maybe they just weren't "good and ready to surrender" or they were "fixin' to surrender".  Or something.

138 Had Zero been President, he would have put his forehead against the ground after Pearl Harbor and begged the Emperor for forgiveness.

139 What a lot of progressives and revisionists refuse to admit is that the Japanese were the only major combatant in WWII to engage in systemic biological and chemical warfare, mostly against the Chinese.  Does anyone know of a good book covering the Japanese invasion, occupation and battles in China? I have yet to find one.

140 Dr Zawahiri promised 40 A-bombs will hit USA on 6th August 2005 now Obama closes Embassies because of his threats... Pussy.

141 Well, they weren't ready to surrender surrender.

142 The Army psychiatrist who faces the death penalty for the 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood has told jurors that "the evidence will clearly show that I am the shooter." OK what are we waiting for. Warm up the firing squad

143 Maybe the Japanese were not ready for surrender-surrender.

144

I re-read E.B. Sledge's  autobiographical "With the Old Breed At Peleliu  and Okinawa"  while on vacation last week.

 

The Japanese were not ready  to surrender.  They fought to the last man on every island on which we had to fight them.   They had to be exterminated - of the 10,000 or so Japanese soldiers  on Peleliu, we captured  17.  Think about that - we  captured .0017 percent of the entire garrison.  The rest had to be killed. 

 

And the only reason we captured  the 17 we did was  because they were too wounded to resist.  Okinawa  was even worse, being occupied by civilians, thousands  of whom  killed themselves and their families rather  than surrender to US troops.  Almost  250,000 people  were killed on Okinawa, Japanese  and American.

 

We needed the bomb SOONER, Jason, you faggoty, ignorant little pissmire.

145 i'm wearing my birthday earrings one is fat boy one is little man Posted by: phoenixgirl at work...birthday girl

Google image search reveals that they are, in fact, very cool indeed.

146 Maybe they just weren't "good and ready to surrender" or they were "fixin' to surrender". Or something. Posted by: Dang at August 06, 2013 11:48 AM (Hx2XA) Poised. Poised to surrender. and the middle class.

147 http://tinyurl.com/kygk4et  (sky news)

Peace-loving herbivores unveil huge boat.

148 If they wanted to keep their cIty, they should have fought harder.

149 @144

Since the douchebag has renounced his commission and citizenship, has the U.S. stopped paying him?

150 >>>What's the following from?

"Dead, Dave. They're all dead, Dave. Everyone's dead, Dave. They're all dead, Dave."

A Rahm Emanuel strategy meeting with a guy named Dave?

151 Hiroo Onoda was "ready to surrender" too. He hurried up and did it in 1974, after watching B-52s taking off to bomb Japanese forces in Vietnam.

152 Because it would have been more humane to kill 1,000,000 japanese with conventional bombs and incendiaries. I think what really galls revisionists is that Americans did what they did without loss of a single life. If the purpose of war is to inflict damage on the enemy while taking as little as possible to yourself, the dropping of the bombs on Japan were the two single greatest moments of warfare in human history, and, at the same time, ended the biggest, bloodiest war it had ever seen. To wring our hands over that and say that a land war and invasion would have been somehow better is appallingly shallow and cold-- it actually advocates MORE blood and death, either over some misguided calculation that the bombs being nuclear somehow makes it worse than ten times the death toll with conventional ones, or it laments that the Evil West White People were somehow prevented from suffering when they did it.

153 Ready to surrender? Were republicans running Japan in 1945?

154 In the absence of the Head Ewok I submit the following for your entertainment and enlightenment:
http://preview.tinyurl.com/moryzvd










And speaking of FDR, even he was opposed to the unionization of government employees. Stalin, of course, fify.

155 Watch the 1943 movie "So Proudly We Hail!" about the experiences of nurses in medical units under attack in Bataan and Corregidor right after Pearl Harbor. More reasons why we used the bomb.

156

phoenixgirl at work...birthday girl at August 06, 2013 11:46 AM (+x+nU)

 

Happy Birthday!  Mine too.

157 >>>What's the following from?

"Dead, Dave. They're all dead, Dave. Everyone's dead, Dave. They're all dead, Dave."


Hillary Clinton on The Letterman Show after the Benghazi attack?

158 Since the douchebag has renounced his commission and citizenship, has the U.S. stopped paying him? Posted by: Penfold at August 06, 2013 11:52 AM (Fbt5B) In your dreams

159

Had Zero been President, he would have put his forehead against the ground after Pearl Harbor and begged the Emperor for forgiveness.

 

You misspelled fellatio.

160 Greetings: Me, I'm looking forward to this year's edition of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki Grannies Still Grieving" report. As always, the Nanking and Seoul grannies will be elsewhere occupied or uanavaible for comment. My father was one of the beneficiaries of one of those all-expense-paid tours of the western Pacific that the government was handing out in the 1940s. After a couple of interesting stops on Saipan and Peleliu, he was awaiting his updated ticket when the big one went off. When I finally got the nerve to ask him about the A-bombings, he replied, "The only thing wrong with the A-bombings was we only had two."

161 Regarding the idiot upthread- The truth is, the Japanese were looking for peace, but couldn't abide the unconditional surrender demand. Please insert event here which caused the unconditional surrender (And ironically, we accepted a non-conditional surrender in the end anyhow).

162 I'll mention it again: a Jeopardy answer yesterday was about Chris Stevens killed in Benghazi.

163 158 phoenixgirl at work...birthday girl at August 06, 2013 11:46 AM (+x+nU) Happy Birthday! Mine too. Posted by: @JohnTant at August 06, 2013 11:54 AM (tVWQB) happy birthday!!!!

164 The really scary thing is that just one didn't do it.

It took the second one before the Empire fully understood that "they had been trying to find a way to surrender".

165 If the US had bombed the crap out of Hiroshima and Nagasaki over months and months there probably wouldn't be a problem.  It was just too damn quick you guys.  Need to slow it down a bit.  Or something.

166 After a couple of interesting stops on Saipan and Peleliu, he was awaiting his updated ticket when the big one went off. When I finally got the nerve to ask him about the A-bombings, he replied, "The only thing wrong with the A-bombings was we only had two." Posted by: 11B40 at August 06, 2013 11:55 AM (pgQGb) Amen

167 FWIW, today America polls well in popularity surveys in Japan. They don't want foreigners coming there to settle, but they love us from afar.

168 Consider this an open thread until the head ewok shows up Might be a while, he was up late last night posting pictures of bad hair, bad teeth, and smiling sloths.

169 As best as can be determined, there were virtually no Japanese on the Home Islands in 1945 who weren't willing to go ballistic on an Allied invading force's ass. A vanishingly small number, approaching zero. Combine that with them having exhibited no contrition for having been rapacious aggressors for decades, then to take out several hundred thousand Japanese with the two bombs rather than what likely could have been an equal number of Allied troops... I have absolutely, positively no problem with that. Grab the tiger's tail and reap the whirlwind. Yamamoto warned all y'all.

170 When I finally got the nerve to ask him about the A-bombings, he replied, "The only thing wrong with the A-bombings was we only had two."

I guess there was a third one that turned out to be unnecessary in the end.

171 l'll never forget the photos of the Japanese training their women and children to fight with sharpened wood pikes in preparation of meeting American soldiers on the beaches of the homeland. All anyone of even remote intelligence had to do was witness the actions of Japanese civilians at the cliffs of Saipan, at Iwo Jima, and Okinawa to see the horrors waged on families by their own people in response to American soldiers invading these islands.

The Japanese people were completely brainwashed into believing that the American soldier was a part the foulest human race this side of the Chinese and Koreans by their militaristic overlords.

The 800K American losses and 2 million Japanses losses were solely the projection for the first invasion...we had plans for further invasions into 1946 and beyond if needed specifically due to the increased fanaticism associated with getting closer to the home islands.

As mentioned above its likely that the Japanese culture was saved. The war casualties on their side would have been more likely in the 15 million range with what it would have taken to win conventionally maybe 2 million on ours. 

The bombs saved a hell of a lot more lives than they took and the Japanese and us Americans should never forget that.

172 In other words: the Japanese were looking for peace... on their terms, preferably victory. Yeah, I Don't Fucking Think So. So here's two atom bombs to help you Japs reconsider.

173

I get the sense that Jason is that guy in the cafe from The Best Years of Our Lives who told the amputee vet that he was the victim of a lie.

 

Got socked in the face for it.  Just saying.

174 If anyone ever wants to argue that we shouldn't have nuked Japan, ask them if they are aware for Operation Ketsu-Go. If they aren't, tell them they are not knowledgeable about the subject to have an informed opinion and are most likely arguing from either emotion or simply regurgitating their 8th grade social science teacher's equally ill-informed blather.

175 I was able to know my grandfather who fought in Europe and was heading to Japan. Thank you President Truman.

176 What part of - TO THE JAPANESE PEOPLE: America asks that you take immediate heed of what we say on this leaflet. We are in possession of the most destructive explosive ever devised by man. A single one of our newly developed atomic bombs is actually the equivalent in explosive power to what 2000 of our giant B-29s can carry on a single mission. This awful fact is one for you to ponder and we solemnly assure you it is grimly accurate. We have just begun to use this weapon against your homeland. If you still have any doubt, make inquiry as to what happened to Hiroshima when just one atomic bomb fell on that city. Before using this bomb to destroy every resource of the military by which they are prolonging this useless war, we ask that you now petition the Emperor to end the war. Our president has outlined for you the thirteen consequences of an honorable surrender. We urge that you accept these consequences and begin the work of building a new, better and peace-loving Japan. You should take steps now to cease military resistance. Otherwise, we shall resolutely employ this bomb and all our other superior weapons to promptly and forcefully end the war. EVACUATE YOUR CITIES. ATTENTION JAPANESE PEOPLE. EVACUATE YOUR CITIES. Because your military leaders have rejected the thirteen part surrender declaration, two momentous events have occurred in the last few days. The Soviet Union, because of this rejection on the part of the military has notified your Ambassador Sato that it has declared war on your nation. Thus, all powerful countries of the world are now at war with you. Also, because of your leaders' refusal to accept the surrender declaration that would enable Japan to honorably end this useless war, we have employed our atomic bomb. A single one of our newly developed atomic bombs is actually the equivalent in explosive power to what 2000 of our giant B-29s could have carried on a single mission. Radio Tokyo has told you that with the first use of this weapon of total destruction, Hiroshima was virtually destroyed. Before we use this bomb again and again to destroy every resource of the military by which they are prolonging this useless war, petition the emperor now to end the war. Our president has outlined for you the thirteen consequences of an honorable surrender. We urge that you accept these consequences and begin the work of building a new, better, and peace-loving Japan. Act at once or we shall resolutely employ this bomb and all our other superior weapons to promptly and forcefully end the war. EVACUATE YOUR CITIES. -- did they not understand?

177 Hellfire missiles launched from unmanned drones killed some Yemeni jihadis on Tuesday, reports say. In Yemen, not, say, Boston. Sixty eight years after we do real hellfire on our sworn enemy in Japan, we get a little more surgical today. No declaration of war, no announcements from Obumbo, just a little press release from some twelfth-tier nobody from some building in D.C. Zip, that's it. Meanwhile, let's all get ready for the Commander in Chief to go on the Tonight show with his hundred-watt smile. Mr Cool. Did I say I hate TFG? Is that OK?

178 The sooner the Americans come, the better...One hundred million die proudly. - Japanese slogan in the summer of 1945. ------ Mostly peaceful.

179

The aircraft that bombed Nagasaki was Bockscar and was piloted by Major Sweeny.  The aircraft (44-27297) was made in Omaha and is now at Dayton, OH...I actually saw it there back in 1991.

 

Even after the two atomic bombs were dropped, Japan continued to fight until August 15.  That night, there was an attempted military coup as the Emperor decided to surrender against the wishes of a faction of (mostly young, junior) officers.  The USSR began fighting Japan in Manchuria a week before and the senior leadership realized that the war was over for them.

 

WW2 was horrible, as all wars are.  Yet I belive that the atomic bombs hastened the end of the war and reduced casualities on all sides.  Blockade/starvation or invasion would have prolonged the suffering of all parties, which was not in anybody's interest.

 

Just my $0.02 worth...

180

If everyone agrees that it was a good thing to drop the bomb, why does everyone (most people) seem to recoil at the thought of fighting other wars with the same resolve?

 

There sure seems to be a lot of arm chair generals who get the vapors at the thought of any civilian being injured. 

 

If the U.S. had the credibility to issue demands of other countries with the express threat that if the orders were not followed, certain death and destruction would follow, there would be far less armed conflicts.

181 Penfold,

Other than the Rape of Nanking I'm not really sure. That one was bad enough.

182 the japanese ate our boys.....i'm not going to feel badly about the bombs....it saved more American lives than killed japanese....and being an American, that means something to me....

183 I get the sense that Jason is that guy in the cafe from The Best Years of Our Lives who told the amputee vet that he was the victim of a lie. Got socked in the face for it. Just saying. Posted by: @JohnTant at August 06, 2013 11:59 AM (tVWQB) I was in my Kosher Deli place on Sunday to get some Nova and White Fish and I had my "Naval Medical Center- Portsmouth VA" hat on and some asshole turns to me and says- "ya know all these wars are just political and a waste of time" I turned to him and said " I don't think so" and shot him a real nasty look. He shut the fuck up and moved far away from me

184 Imagine if Hitler had wanted to surrender, yet stay in office and keep Germany a Nazi state. Allowing the Nationalist Japanese to dictate terms of their surrender would have been the same as allowing Germany to do so. They were every bit as brutal and inhuman as their allies in Europe, perhaps even more so. Their back had to be broken, period. That's why surrender had to be unconditional.

185 in August 1945, the 10th Mountain Division ( just back from Italy ) was gearing up for the invasion of Japan.  Because of The Bombs and The Surrender, the men went on leave and the division was de-activated in Nov


got any 10th Mountain ancestors?  I do.  Thanks, Col. Tibbets

186 Obama's giving a speech at a high school today.  I hope he remembers to apologize for this.  And yeah, it was racist.  Because mean old whitey cracker ass was in hate mode against the yellow people.  JUSTICE FOR TRAYVON, or something like that. 

187

A number of years ago, I attended a program at the Smithsonian featuring a  couple of WWII pilots who participated in the Dresden bombing.   Some tool in the audience asked how they felt about the morality of bombing   civilians, etc., etc.  One of the pilots looked at the guy and calmly said, "They  started it."   Much applause followed and it shut the kid up quick.

As far as I'm concerned, those who question the use of nukes on Japan get the  same response.  Bataan, Nanking, etc. A co-worker's father was a surgeon  during WWII and landed on the Pacific islands.  His stories were horrific.   The Japanese soldiers had no regard for medics and often gruesomely killed  or tried to kill those U.S. medical forces who tried to aid them.  At least  the U.S. forces could and did respond to those attacks in kind. 

188 and being an American, that means something to me....

Posted by: phoenixgirl at work...birthday girl at August 06, 2013 12:04 PM (+x+nU)

 

Pfffft.  It's not like America is exceptional or anything. 

189 Another interesting event during my tour of duty in Japan.
Every time we took the Marines out on patrol, we had to drop down to Okinawa to pick them and their equipment up. As an LHD can carry more Marines and their equipment than most people can get their heads around, it could take as many as three days sitting pierside at White Beach to load everything up.
One time we had a chance to rent a car, and drive the north-south length of the island to go up to one of the Marine MWR facilities. And it gave me my first chance to see just exactly what the terrain and vegetation looks like when people aren't beating it into submission.
There is no possible way that I can get my brain to form an accurate picture of the effort, and gut wrenching terror that our troops would have gone through, inch by inch by inch on those and the home islands.

190 Anyone find it interesting that "Operation Downfall" is   also   the name of Obama's 5-year economic plan?

191 Probably the best 'modern' WWII flick was the one with Benjamin Bratt. I forget the name.

192 the japs should be thanking us.

193 Urban legend is, a sniper stationed in Iraq was asked if he felt anything after shooting an Iraqi. He said yes, recoil.

194

Probably the best 'modern' WWII flick was the one with Benjamin Bratt.

I forget the name.

Posted by: soothsayer & lewis, together again at August 06, 2013 12:08 PM (sNRnJ)
------------

 

The Great Raid.  Good movie.

195 People tend to forget that years after the war, Japanese soldiers found in jungles didn't believe Japan had surrendered.

196
Ike thought that the Germans were getting close to surrender in the winter of 44 too...how'd that work out for our troops?

Hindsight being 20/20 and all...

197 We were going to drop more than two bombs, but pity stayed our hand.

(What a pity... we've run out of bombs!)

198 Yep that's the one. The Great Raid.

199 People tend to forget that years after the war, Japanese soldiers found in jungles didn't believe Japan had surrendered. Posted by: Hanoverfist at August 06, 2013 12:10 PM (DNOOe) -- No, I've seen Gilligans Island, and remember that guy vividly. Its probably considered too racist to air now.

200 I get the sense that Jason is that guy in the cafe from The Best Years of Our Lives who told the amputee vet that he was the victim of a lie.

Got socked in the face for it. Just saying.
Posted by: @JohnTant at August 06, 2013 11:59 AM (tVWQB)


The world was a better place when you could put a  douchebag on the ground like that.   The Law Industry kinda changed that.

201

Anumber ofyears ago, I attended aprogram at the Smithsonianfeaturing a couple ofWWII pilots who participated in the Dresden bombing. Sometoolin the audience asked how they felt about the morality of bombing civilians, etc., etc. One of the pilots looked at the guy and calmly said, "They started it." Much applause followed and it shut the kid up quick.

 

That was a beautiful response,  and so opposite   of   what today's prog/coms believe. Their mistaken belief that self-defense   and "disproportionate response"   is somehow wrong is what prolongs the hell of  war.

 

I'm convinced that we could stop the current global   War on Terror rather quickly if we had the same resolve our  grandparents did.

202    201  We were going to drop more than two bombs, but pity stayed our hand.

(What a pity... we've run out of bombs!)
*
*
That's my line!

203 My dad was Navy in the ETO, kept LST's electrical shit working.  You can bet those ETO LST's would have been headed to Japan if the nukes didn't work.

204

O/T Vent time...

 

Son is in Colorado on Emergency leave from Guam... where he has been driving on his expired license under the soldier sailor act...

 

Because its expired more than a year, they say he HAS to take a behind the wheel driver test.... but there are NO appointments for tests available for FIVE WEEKS....

 

Even tried to talk to a DMV manager... no joy...

 

Thanks for your service.... now F You!

205 "the evidence will clearly show that I am the shooter."

***

He also apologized for being an imperfect Muslim.  We can't promise perfection but we can make you a good Muslim.

206

Had the honor of working for  Paul Tibbets son.  He was a Major General and a heck of a great guy.  Proud to have served with him!

207 I'm convinced that we could stop the current global War on Terror rather quickly if we had the same resolve our grandparents did. Posted by: BackwardsBoy, who did not vote for this shit at August 06, 2013 12:12 PM (0HooB) Now we have ridiculous ROE's and glad-handling terrorists.

208 If you look along the eastern coast line of the US, probably the west coast as well but I'm not familiar with it, you will see military bunkers and submarine watching stations all over the place. There are a couple not a mile from my house. Relics from WWII. There are wrecks of German subs off the coast of NJ and other costal areas. And let's not forget the fact that the Japanese attacked the US without warning at Pearl Harbor. It wasn't for lack of effort that the US wasn't attacked during WWII, just lack of execution.

209 Infiltration, infiltration of our government by Godless Commies. True story.

Posted by: Cretin, in the Palouse, still high-grade at August 06, 2013 11:47 AM (XPrWZ)

 

No, not a true story. FDR prioritized the European Theater because Germany was perceived as the greater threat. But hey, always happy to hear the John Birch Society point of view. If memory serves, Birchers thought Reagan was too soft on communism, which is one of the reasons they enjoy such credibility and popular esteem.

210 @191

My wife's grandfather was a field surgeon with the 7th ID (IIRC), there is a picture of him doing surgery on a soldier under a tarp in the jungle.

211

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at August 06, 2013 12:07 PM (c8tlE)

 

They still have a lot of tunnels that run through Okinawa that  the public are not allowed to enter that they keep up for historical purposes.

212 Penfold, see if you can find a copy of "Knights of Bushido" by Lord Russell.  Russell was a British    judge advocate   in charge of     war crimes  trials.

213

Dropping the bomb marked the last time the U.S. fought an actual "war". Everything since has been an exercise in awkward tiptoeing, proportional responses and selective targeting more suited to sports teams than nations

 

Actually, that is how much of war has been conducted throughout history. Read up on the history of warfare throughout the ages and try to free your mind from the preconception of WWII and war between nation-states, and the modern way of war will much less of a mystery.

 

BTW, every war short of all-out genocide has rules, proportional responses, selective targeting, etc. Sometimes it is just a lot more obvious than others.

214 Thanks NV!

215 Ginger uses judo to kick a japanese soldier ass: youtu.be/dIhcM2rB36g Nothing racist about that!

216 FL has like a zillion WWII era airfields.  The warm weather made it an easy year round place to do aircrew training.

217 BTW, every war short of all-out genocide has rules, proportional responses, selective targeting, etc. Sometimes it is just a lot more obvious than others. Posted by: Grey Fox at August 06, 2013 12:15 PM (lhKGY) Tell me.

218 My dad was on general staff at Pentagon. After VE day they were in full mobilization moving troops. Who would go to Japan was a big question. He decided, if the ship had gone through the Panama Canal, they were off to Japan, if not they went home.

219

Posted by: BackwardsBoy, who did not vote for this shit at August 06, 2013 12:12 PM (0HooB)

 

More?  Our current PC way of waging war is incorrect.

 

We, in our founding documents say that the Government is of the People... its chosen by the people... and the People CAN overthrow any government IF they really wish.

 

Add in many are Democracies?  and how can we say (like with Iran which DOES have elections) that we don't like their Government, but don't blame the People?

 

War should be so terrible, that the people of said government will overthrow those in power, if they start it.... THAT is deterrence....

 

I'm a proponent of the George Washington US Military school of thought....  ie.... we will kill you at night, while you sleep, by surprise, on CHRISTMAS....

220

Imagine if Hitler had wanted to surrender, yet stay in office and keep Germany a Nazi state.

Allowing the Nationalist Japanese to dictate terms of their surrender would have been the same as allowing Germany to do so. They were every bit as brutal and inhuman as their allies in Europe, perhaps even more so. Their back had to be broken, period. That's why surrender had to be unconditional.

 

 

Yes.  Peace is not merely the cessation of violence.

221 We been doing drone strikes in Yemen for years now.  That Saleh character who runs the Yemani govt is a straight up old school gangster, which made his cooperation easy to buy.

222

Speaking of the concept of fighting war as if war was something countries should avoid, who in the world came up with the idea of not raping the losers?

 

If you're going to have war, the winners rape the losers.  That's just the way it's been and how it should be.  I'm talking women and men both.  Breed the fight out of them by impregnating their women and let the men  know  who lost the war by a good ass fucking.

 

 

 

 

223 "They still have a lot of tunnels that run through Okinawa that the public are not allowed to enter that they keep up for historical purposes."

I was aware of their existence, but had not seen them.
But the impact of seeing the terrain and vegetation, with the heat and humidity just about knocked me to my knees. And then to add in Japanese military trying to kill you as well...and civilians being trained to pitch in with the killing. No thanks.

224

FL has like a zillion WWII era airfields. The warm weather made it an easy year round place to do aircrew training.

 

----------

 

Yep.  My grandfather was particularly proud of the fact that throughout all of WWII, not one German bomber ever made it past Tampa.

225 Now we have ridiculous ROE's and glad-handling terrorists.

***

And proportional responses.  The idea is that no matter how superior our forces, we have to give the other guy a fighting chance or else it isn't fair.

226 Posted by: Dildo Bugger at August 06, 2013 12:12 PM (BDU/a) Oh, one of the great lines in Bored of the Rings (and there are many). {{{{ golf clap }}}}

227 And the all time classic - Stairway to Heaven Gilligans Island theme song youtu.be/KTCYLbFxTpI

228 If you have nothing else to do...
Check out how Tokyo, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki look today. 
Compare and contrast with Detroit.

229

Posted by: Carthage at August 06, 2013 12:17 PM (GQ8sn)

 

 

If you are thinking of the third war, then yes, that would be an example of something approaching genocide.

230 >>Imagine if Hitler had wanted to surrender, yet stay in office and keep Germany a Nazi state. >>Allowing the Nationalist Japanese to dictate terms of their surrender would have been the same as allowing Germany to do so. They were every bit as brutal and inhuman as their allies in Europe, perhaps even more so. Their back had to be broken, period. That's why surrender had to be unconditional. Yet this is exactly what we did in Iraq after the first Gulf War. We didn't demand a complete surrender and demand Hussein be removed, we singed an armistice. The results shouldn't be that surprising.

231 Imagine if Hitler had wanted to surrender, yet stay in office and keep Germany a Nazi state.

***

OK.  You can kill half the remaining Jews but we get the doctors, the scientists, the accountants, and the comedians.

232 BTW, every war short of all-out genocide has rules, proportional responses, selective targeting, etc. Sometimes it is just a lot more obvious than others.

Posted by: Grey Fox at August 06, 2013 12:15 PM (lhKGY)

 

Not really.  I  think It was Alexander who first incorporated defeated opponents into his armies instead of  slaughtering them all.  It was further perfected by the Ottomans.   Prior to that ,  it was slaughter all the defeated military  and rape and pillage the civilians.    

233

Posted by: jwest at August 06, 2013 12:19 PM (u2a4R)

 

 

Sooo.... you ARE OK with Gays in the Military?  /sarc

234

Posted by: jwest at August 06, 2013 12:19 PM (u2a4R)

 

 

Not really familiar with the concepts of Just War theory, are we?

235 "... I had my "Naval Medical Center- Portsmouth VA" hat on..." They tried to set my dislocated arm there when I was 5 (back in '73). 2 grown men holding me against the wall while a third braced his foot on said wall and pulled with everything he had. Always hated that place.

236 Also, Lord    Russell wrote "Knights of Bushido"  as a companion book to "Scourge of the Swastika", which detailed the Nazi war crimes.  Both are excellent, but out of print.  Used copies are available, however.

237

239 -

 

Jwest sits around thinking of ways to troll the blog.  That's all. 

238

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at August 06, 2013 12:19 PM (c8tlE)

 

Yep,  Hell on earth. 

239

Now we have ridiculous ROE's and glad-handling terrorists.

 

Not to mention  the   needless and expensive surveillance of innocent Americans,  needless  and expensive groping of innocent Americans in airports and all the other bullshit we have to go through because   those in charge   won't  actually fight and kill our enemy.

 

Those same spineless wimps would rather increase their power over  us and drain our wallets  rather than insure we can live in peace. They'll say  we'd be on the same level as  our enemies, or some other false psychological mumbo-jumbo. They also wish to disarm us here at home and render us helpless to    criminally    violent  aggression.

 

They are not  on our side.

240 MacArthur was right. Truman turned into a pussy. Bombing China would have stopped the Korean war and all that is left of it. Carter, same thing. He stops CIA bribes to Mullahs, Shaw gets fucked.

241 BTW, every war short of all-out genocide has rules, proportional responses, selective targeting, etc. Sometimes it is just a lot more obvious than others. Posted by: Grey Fox at August 06, 2013 12:15 PM (lhKGY) Tell me. Posted by: Carthage You ain't just whistling Dixie.

242 I'm convinced that we could stop the current global War on Terror rather quickly if we had the same resolve our grandparents did.


Yep.  Our betters try to find complexity and nuance in every situation and the result is that any message we send is ambiguous, vacillating and weak.  There's something to be said for a response that makes it blindingly clear that we are not to be fucked with.

243 231 
Posted by: Dildo Bugger at August 06, 2013 12:12 PM (BDU/a)

Oh, one of the great lines in Bored of the Rings (and there are many).

{{{{ golf clap }}}}
*
*
We boggies are uncomfortable with machines more complex than a blackjack or a Luger, and are seldom seen nowadays unless we gather to dry-gulch a lone farmer or hunter.

(We'd make such good Democrat politicians, wouldn't we?)

244 MacArthur was right. Truman turned into a pussy. Bombing China would have stopped the Korean war and all that is left of it. Carter, same thing. He stops CIA bribes to Mullahs, Shaw gets fucked. Posted by: Billy Bob, pseudo intellectal at August 06, 2013 12:24 PM (wR+pz) http://youtu.be/Fj5k6toS7i8

245

"Not really familiar with the concepts of Just War theory, are we?"

 

If you want war to be something people avoid, you need to make it unpleasant. 

 

For everyone involved.

 

With consequences.

 

 

246

Compared to other wars, the Germans got let up easy after WW I.

Which wouldn't have happened if they'd stayed home.

Twenty years later, the bastards did it again, which goes to show you what allowing a surrender, such as it was, will do for you.

Lesson was to be applied to Japan, which meant invasion and occupation as with Germany the second time.  Fortunately, we had the Bomb.

247 I just don't see a lot of lingering smoke in the photos of any nuclear bomb photos. That's because most of it gets swept up in the heat column. Keeping in mind that for most of the period of time in which we did above ground testing, we didn't have satellites that photographed the cloud as it drifted away from the blast site. OTOH, it was possible to track the fallout and for shots that took place at the Nevada Test Site, that fallout frequently fell out over multiple states. You'd be unpleasantly surprised to find out how much of the long half-life stuff is still lying around. Another point to consider is that most of the shots you see photos of were done in isolated locations where there wasn't much to burn. On a different note: He said " No he shouldn't have used the atom bomb, he should have used the hydrogen bomb." Except for the fact that it'd be several more years before the H-bomb was invented and tested, spot on.

248

Not really. I think It was Alexander who first incorporated defeated opponents into his armies instead of slaughtering them all. It was further perfected by the Ottomans. Prior to that , it was slaughter all the defeated military and rape and pillage the civilians.

 

 

Nope. Hoplite warfare was highly ritualized. Read VDH on the subject. In any case, having rules and selective targeting, etc, doesn't rule out slaughtering defeated opponents and enslaving their families, it just dictates how you do things.

249 They'll say we'd be on the same level as our enemies, or some other false psychological mumbo-jumbo. It never pays to take the low road. Or so goes the conventional thinking.

250 >>Yep. Our betters try to find complexity and nuance in every situation and the result is that any message we send is ambiguous, vacillating and weak. There's something to be said for a response that makes it blindingly clear that we are not to be fucked with. So what your saying is that if terrorists attack one of our embassies, kill our ambassador and 3 others trying to protect him and our sovereign territory, and we do nothing but blame it on a youtube video it might encourage them to do it again forcing us to close dozens of embassies throughout the middle east and northern Africa? Crazy talk.

251 Chris Christie and Barack Obama Fat Boy and Little Man (Less racist this way)

252 Because its expired more than a year, they say he HAS to take a behind the wheel driver test.... but there are NO appointments for tests available for FIVE WEEKS....

I'm so glad government drones will be deciding who gets medical care now.

253 " "... I had my "Naval Medical Center- Portsmouth VA" hat on...""

Great facility. They were the ones who diagnosed my cancer.
And, they were also kind enough to arrange for Hopkins in Baltimore to do the surgery, allowing for recovery at home with Mrs VIA, vice the PNSY BEQ by myself.

254 @249 I had forgotten that! LOL!

255 I had forgotten that! LOL! Posted by: Billy Bob, pseudo intellectal at August 06, 2013 12:30 PM (wR+pz) Hey, I went to the show in Raleigh this past weekend and I saw two PS90's going for $1500 or so. What's the deal? Thought these were double that. Or am I missing something about them?

256

Posted by: BackwardsBoy, who did not vote for this shit at August 06, 2013 12:23 PM (0HooB)

 

The Feds understand that Islamic terrorists are NOT a Systemic threat.  They cannot destroy our country... they can't invade... they can't destroy the Government or its form...

 

The People, however.... are a systemic threat to their grab for power...

 

Ergo, the reaction.

257 I had forgotten that! LOL! "He cares! About what, I have no idea..."

258 22 Yay!  The most reprehensible, cruel Imperialist [literally] bastards what ever bayoneted the cheek of a 5 year old Chinese boy [true story - I knew the guy] got bombed *only 2 times* with nukes and now the Japs 1] don't have an army and 2] take pictures, nod, smile, and make us cars.  Conclusion: Nukes = World Peace 

Posted by: Bigby's Kung Fu Grip at August 06, 2013 11:17 AM (3ZtZW)

And when considering Japan's overall track record in China in WWII, that boy got off lucky.  

Not everyone got to survive being bayonet practice.  

259 "He cares! About what, I have no idea..." Posted by: Additional Blond Agent at August 06, 2013 12:32 PM (PMGbu) "I got two boys. I put one of them through college, and the other through a brick wall."

260 Once had a WWII vet put the A-bombing in perspective:

(1)  If a military eligible American male born between 1915 and 1925 ever disagreed with the decision he never heard about it.

(2)  The America of 1945 dropped its entire nuclear inventory on Japan.  It would not be able to make another bomb for about a year.

(3)  That America is deader than ancient Rome.

261 Heh: http://trurly.ytmnd.com/

262 (2) The America of 1945 dropped its entire nuclear inventory on Japan. It would not be able to make another bomb for about a year. NOt sure that is true. I seem to remember reading that that enough fissionable material was in the pipeline to have more bombs in a month or 2.

263 Compared to other wars, the Germans got let up easy after WW I.

***

The Germans in round one were brutal in that they introduced poison gas, flame throwers, and, from the get go, imposed brutal reprisals on civilians often for imaginary crimes but I don't think it is fair to blame the Krauts for starting the war.  Sean McKeekin in his book July 1914 makes a pretty good case that it was the Russkies who were most to blame.

Somewhere I read the opinion that tjhe two biggest mistakes the allies made at the end of the war were to allow the Germans to march back to Krautland with their weapons and to refuse to lift the blockade.  The blockade caused many thousand innocent civilians to die of starvation and did not endear the allies to the Germans while allowing them to retain their weapons and return to Germany made Hitler's stab in the back myth believable.

264 I just finished watching the 50 min video. I learned some things. What I did not like was the libtard ending where Americans celebrated victory, flash to a dead little girl. Americans Dance, Flash to a dead little boy, Americans have a ticker tape parade, More Japanese suffering. Had the emperor surrendered, there would have been no Atom Bomb dropped. Even today the Americans are vilified while the Royal ego of the emperor is forgiven. OSP says, Fuck Them.

265
   In order to win a war, you must negate the enemy's ability to WAGE war.

   The second part is to break the will of that enemy to eage war.

    Both missions MUST be accomplished before victory can be had.

    HOW you do this is just strategy and tactics.

    Shame we seem to have forgotten that.

266

It never pays to take the low road. Or so goes the conventional thinking.

 

I see nothing wrong with defending yourself  against aggression,  yet our betters seem to think there is.  Hence  the weak response to terrorism. If we  were to make it clear that every terrorist attack would  result in a disproportionate response somewhere in the ME, I feel quite certain that those mullahs  would start reigning in their adherents,  and quickly.  If they didn't, well, too bad for them.

 

 

They started it.

267
Oh, one of the great lines in Bored of the Rings (and there are many).
Posted by: Krebs v Carnot



"My fellow boggies", he said, "my fellow Poops and Peristalts, Barrelgutts and Hangbellies, Needlepoints, Liverflaps, and Nosethingers". "Nosefingers!", corrected an irate drunk who, true to his family name, had it jammed into his nostril to the fourth joint.

Book had me convulsed when I read it as a teen.

268 Heh: http://trurly.ytmnd.com/ Posted by: The Political Hat at August 06, 2013 12:33 PM (XvHmy) I remember someone making an IM fight as WWII breaks out in the Pacific: Japan: "LOL! Fucked up your ships!!!" US: "OMG! Fuck you!!!" *activates factories* Japan: "WTF?!?!? Cheats!!!!" US: "Hahaha!!! Suk it bizatch!!!"

269 Posted by: jwest at August 06, 2013 12:19 PM (u2a4R)

This is it?

You need new material.

270

If everyone agrees that it was a good thing to drop the bomb, why does everyone (most people) seem to recoil at the thought of fighting other wars with the same resolve?

There sure seems to be a lot of arm chair generals who get the vapors at the thought of any civilian being injured.

 

You can thank Progessives for that.  It's the idea, inclucated through schools, museums and propaganda, that war is always wrong, but especially wrong when the US does it.  AFAIC, Afghanistan should have been nuked a long time ago.

 

And I would long since have nuked Mecca.  With advance warning leaflets.  And more leaflets afterward:  "You still feel like dying for Allah?  Because Saudi Arabia is next."

271

Posted by: irongrampa at August 06, 2013 12:36 PM (SAMxH)

 

Actually... Viet Nam proved all you had to do was break the Political will to wage war....

 

Something Osama Bin L  talked about in his writings...

 

Democracies have the ability to wage war for about 4 years.... before the people loose interest and motivation.  Problem is the 'War on Terror" has been going on for 12... with no end in sight...

 

Which is why we don't hear about the war anymore.... America is not at War.... only her military is....

272 "And if they didn't, I probably wouldn't be here today. My grandfather was in Australia training for the invasion of Japan that never happened. While he was there, he met a beach bunny that became my grandmother." Likewise. My father was 4F with a bad back (that tortured him until the day he died) from playing Negro League football in the '30s. A go decision on Operation Olympic and he'd have instantly become 1A.

273 If we were to make it clear that every terrorist attack would result in a disproportionate response somewhere in the ME, I feel quite certain that those mullahs would start reigning in their adherents, and quickly. If they didn't, well, too bad for them. They started it. I agree wholeheartedly. If I were Bush after the twin towers fell, within the hour of identifying the hijackers, mecca & medina would have been glowing glass.

274 Atomic Bomb dropped on Hiroshima? Never heard of it.

275 And I would long since have nuked Mecca. With advance warning leaflets. And more leaflets afterward: "You still feel like dying for Allah? Because Saudi Arabia is next." Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at August 06, 2013 12:39 PM (zF6Iw) Yeah, that was a no brainer after 9/11. What has all of this restraint gotten us? Disrespected on the world stage and thousands of our best and brightest kids dead or crippled.

276

From Gen. Dick Groves: "Before an enemy will truly surrender you have to show them in the harshest of terms that you intend to destroy them."

 

I apologize for not remembering the exact wording but it's close. 

 

 

277

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at August 06, 2013 12:38 PM (gqgiP)

 

"This is it?"

 

Sometimes concepts are that simple. 

278 Hey, I went to the show in Raleigh this past weekend and I saw two PS90's going for $1500 or so. What's the deal? Thought these were double that. Or am I missing something about them?

Posted by: EC at August 06, 2013 12:31 PM (GQ8sn)

Expensive club without ammo.

279 Given that the Japanese tortured and starved American POWs, machine-gunned merchant marines in lifeboats,    used chemical weapons   and performed vivisection   on civilians, used indiscriminate rape and killing on Chinese, American, Phillipino, British and Dutch civilians, and given the Bataan death march and cannibalism of    captured American fliers, I sometimes wonder if only two atomic bombs were sufficient retribution.

280 Since the thread is dead, I present my proudest moment on Twitter: AmishDude @TheAmishDude Rihanna hardest hit. MT @RBPundit Chris Brown is quitting music?

281 Atomic Bomb dropped on Hiroshima? Never heard of it.

Posted by: Charles Gibson at August 06, 2013 12:41 PM (g0F0Y)

Ah, the Wendy Davis gambit.

282 Former Phillies pitcher Dan Meyer tweeted this yesterday: "Hey Antonio Bastardo, remember when we competed for a job in 2011. Thx alot. ‪#ýAhole‬"

283 AmishDude @TheAmishDude
Rihanna hardest hit. MT @RBPundit Chris Brown is quitting music?

***

War on women!

284

I agree wholeheartedly. If I were Bush after the twin towers fell, within the hour of identifying the hijackers, mecca & medina would have been glowing glass.

 

 

Posted by: rickb223 at August 06, 2013 12:41 PM (ndIek)

 

 

Yeah... the fact that most of the 9/11's were Saudis.... so we invaded Afghanistan and then Iraq?  /doubletake

285 85 I'm not advocating that atom bombs foster future city growth.


Hmm. Detroit might be an interesting test case. I mean, what's the worst that could happen?

****

Now you wait one gosh darn minute.  I live real near Detroit. 

(Could it be done next week when I'm on vacation?)

286 From Gen. Dick Groves: "Before an enemy will truly surrender you have to show them in the harshest of terms that you intend to destroy them."

I apologize for not remembering the exact wording but it's close.

Posted by: Foghorn Leghorn at August 06, 2013 12:42 PM (EGPJQ)

 

 

That's icky, seriously you  guys.

287 Posted by: Chris Morton at August 06, 2013 12:41 PM (NO075) Interesting. I always was aware of the other sports leagues but it seems only baseball got the attention.

288 I found it!!! http://www.strategypage.com/humor/articles/military_jokes_20057151.asp LOL!!!

289 Rodney Dangerfield tells you all you need to know about Americans in War: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgPG83Jjbhc

290 If we are going to go full throttle on the nuke concept, it's time to return to the familiar "Nuke Map" link, and see just how far the bottled sunshine will go in accordance with size, detonation altitude and location.

I was surprised to see that there was a good chance that a burst in DC might go un noticed in Baltimore till the actual news broke.
Depending on the size and such.

 http://tinyurl.com/atkzh5a

291 AmishDude @TheAmishDude Rihanna hardest hit. MT @RBPundit Chris Brown is quitting music? Posted by: AmishDude at August 06, 2013 12:42 PM (T0NGe) He spelled "punching women" wrong.

292 We could just as easily carried out Admiral Halsey's threat of "Before we're through with them, the Japanese language will be spoken only in hell."

293 Something occurred to me today in thinking about the RNC boycott of CNN/NBC debates: CNN might not be around in 2016.

294 Y-Not, did you grow up near Lewisburg?

295 Wow. jason is quite the douchebag, isn't he???

296

269 OSP:

 

Amen and amen. The media keeps trying to insert guilt into history.  Talk to any WW2 vet and they will tell you that to win we had to destroy the enemies.  No apologies - just the facts of war.  The war was a grief for everyone involved - even the winners had to bury tens of thousands of their dead.

297 One of the most profound interviews I have ever seen was when I saw Robert Oppenheimer say while weeping "I am become death, destroyer of worlds." They all fully understood what they had done, they just couldn't stop themselves.

298 296 Rodney Dangerfield tells you all you need to know about Americans in War: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgPG83Jjbhc Posted by: zsasz, Banal Drivelist at August 06, 2013 12:45 PM (MMC8r) Haha! I linked a better version up at #249.

299 I remember someone making an IM fight as WWII breaks out in the Pacific: Japan: "LOL! Fucked up your ships!!!" US: "OMG! Fuck you!!!" *activates factories* Japan: "WTF?!?!? Cheats!!!!" US: "Hahaha!!! Suk it bizatch!!!" US: Rolls d20. Awww. Unleash a bomb. Bye bye Japan.

300 Ready to quit the Japanese were?

Right.  That's why a bunch of them tried to assassinate the Emperor rather than let him speak to the people announcing the surrender.

That's why they were still emerging from caves on Guam thirty years later. 

301 US: Rolls d20. Awww. Unleash a bomb. Bye bye Japan. Posted by: rickb223 at August 06, 2013 12:49 PM (ndIek) #295.

302 From Gen. Dick Groves: "Before an enemy will truly surrender you have to show them in the harshest of terms that you intend to destroy them."

I apologize for not remembering the exact wording but it's close.

Posted by: Foghorn Leghorn at August 06, 2013 12:42 PM (EGPJQ)

===========

I think W.T. Sherman said it best: "War is the solution our opponent has chosen and I say we give him all that he can stand!"

303 Haha! I linked a better version up at #249. Yeah, my link was a shitty TV copy.

304

300 CNN might not be around in 2016.

 

Ah. An optimist.

 

305 #295. Stalin: omg dont be gay gimmie nuculer secrets. LOL.

306 I'm sure somebody noteworthy has gamed out what would happen if we did nuke Mecca.  Can anyone point me to a writeup?  Would it break the back of Islam?  Would it provoke every Muslim in every nation to wage war against the US?  What would the US do if that were the case?  Threaten the governments of the major Muslim powers?  I imagine that wouldn't do much because the only thing keeping the populace in check in those places is propaganda against Israel and threats of violence by gov't troops.

307 Stalin: omg dont be gay gimmie nuculer secrets. LOL. Posted by: rickb223 at August 06, 2013 12:54 PM (ndIek) paTTon: weeeee i got a jeep *paTTon has been eliminated.* paTTon: o sh1t! *paTTon has left the game.* Hahahahaha!!!!!!!

308 Italy:  LEEEEEEEEEROY JEEENKINS!

309 I'm sure somebody noteworthy has gamed out what would happen if we did nuke Mecca.

After the condemnations, Mooch wouldn't be able to vacation in Europe anymore.  The shame, the horror, etc.

310 >>>>FDR's decision to ignore the Pacific War, even tho' that's the only place we had actually been attacked. The anguished, futile waiting in the Philippines for "the aid" that never came, the Bataan Death March,<<<<

Once again the Philippines were simply not salvageable in 1942. And we did not ignore the Pacific. Europe got priority because that is where the Russians and the Brits were and they were both under actual attack in their homelands. Guadalcanal started in August of '42 and given the state of the fleet after Pearl Harbor that is pretty damn sharp work.

I have to go back to work but I'll be around this evening if anyone want to argue the point.

311 Charles Sweeney published his memoirs as War's End: An Eyewitness Account of America's Last Atomic Mission (Avon, 1997). During the party following the successful Hiroshima drop, he recalled that Paul Tibbets took him aside and told him that he was to command the second atomic mission, with Kokura as the primary and Nagasaki as the secondary target. Timing was important, Tibbets said: "It was vital that [the Japanese] believed we had an unlimited supply of atomic bombs and that we would continue to use them. Of course, the truth was that we only had one more bomb on Tinian. Delivery of the third bomb was several weeks away."

312 Hitler[AoE]: wtf Hitler[AoE]: america hax, u had depression and now u got a huge fockin army Hitler[AoE]: thats bullsh1t u hacker ---- That's some funny shit. Thanks for posting EC.

313 <sH1nT0> Emperor surrenders.
<sH1nT0> Military team kills Emperor.

314 paTTon: weeeee i got a jeep *paTTon has been eliminated.* paTTon: o sh1t! *paTTon has left the game.* TOJO: holy **** holy **** holy **** *TOJO has been eliminated* LOL

315 Italy: LEEEEEEEEEROY JEEENKINS! "At least I got chicken!"

316 I imagine that wouldn't do much because the only thing keeping the populace in check in those places is propaganda against Israel and threats of violence by gov't troops.

Posted by: bonhomme

Most of those types of strategy papers are from subscription services so i've never seen an 'authentic' one.

Wretchard at PJmedia has kicked around the idea obliquely before but I can't remember any specifics. (no, not the Three/Four Conjectures; that deals only with sheer numbers)

But I've never understood the idea of doing so. Why would fanatical Islamists and their immediate supporters be swayed by it? There isn't a psychological mechanism by which the destruction would induce pacifism. It's just magical thinking.

317 It is fortunate the Japanese leadership acted as it did, for it appears that another city-busting A-bomb would have been dropped within Aichi Prefecture, in the vicinity of Nagoya on JapanÂ’s main Honshu Island, on August 17 or 18. The weapon components and bomb casings were already on Tinian; only the plutonium cores were needed to implement that third nuclear attack. It would NOT have been a year till we had other bombs

318 Yeah, that was a no brainer after 9/11. What has all of this restraint gotten us? Disrespected on the world stage and thousands of our best and brightest kids dead or crippled.

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet at August 06, 2013 12:41 PM (XIxXP)

 

Just to follow up (and this is off the top of my head, since I'm ignorant of protocol) - after 9/11, when it had been definitively established that the hijackers were Saudi financed (or financed by whomever), President Poppins would have summoned an Oval Office off the recrod meeting with the relevant ambassadors (it's long, so skip if you want):

 

“Good morning, gentlemen.  Thank you for making time to see me.

 

 

“As you know, our Twin Towers were destroyed in a terrorist attack.  Our intelligence services have determined that they were not only Saudi nationals, but were funded by the Saudi government – no, Mr. Ambassador, let me finish.  I have the utmost confidence in this dossier they have presented me, and which I now present to all of you.

 

 

“I also have the utmost confidence that you know our intelligence is correct.  I would also remind you that, as President of the United States, I have the option to order direct action if I believe the security of the nation is in jeopardy.

 

 

“Thank you for asking, Mr. Ambassador.  What is that direct action?  If you will look at this globe here, I will point out the cities of Mecca and Medina.  The second is very heavily populated and the first is the holiest spot in all of Islam, am I correct?  I am?  Thank you, sir.

 

 

“Now, gentlemen, as we say in America, letÂ’s get down to brass tacks.  The dossier you all have copies of describes the training and funding the 9/11 terrorists have received.  No, Mr. Ambassador, you listen.  In fact, I suggest all of you listen.

 

 

“I can pick up this telephone, and before you leave the White House, have a bomber squadron in the air.  I can direct it to obliterate any target I choose.  Let me repeat that: any target I choose. 

 

 

“Read your dossiers and look at that globe again, gentlemen.  Unless we are given concrete proof that the funders and trainers of the 9/11 attackers have been imprisoned and / or killed, I will pick up that telephone.  If so much as one American soldier or civilian gets so much as a dirty look from an Arab from this moment onwards, I will turn Medina into a lake of glass.  And then Mecca.  And I will keep bombing until you learn your lesson.  I have that authority.

 

 

“And just to let you know I am not joking – before this meeting began, I ordered a squadron to drop one nuclear bomb on (name of city).  They should have acquired target by now.

 

 

“Goodbye, gentlemen, and please take this meeting seriously.  If not, the next time we meet will be at your graves.”

 

 

319 "Sean McKeekin in his book July 1914 makes a pretty good case that it was the Russkies who were most to blame." Actually it was the Serbs who were most to blame, followed by the Austrians. After that, it was a "Family Guy" style orgy of arrogance and stupidity, headed up by the Russians. Had the Austrians simply gone into Serbia immediately instead of dithering around waiting for German support, the war would have been a short one. Instead, they waited long enough for the mobilization machine (and the various ultra-nationalist conspiracies) to kick in. Once that started, there was no stopping it.

320 I was surprised to see that there was a good chance that a burst in DC might go un noticed in Baltimore till the actual news broke. Depending on the size and such. Ok, maybe I'm missing the part of the page that describes how an observer in Baltimore would or wouldn't notice the blast. Is it the little marker guy?

321 WTF eisenhower hax hes killing all my sh1t Hitler[AoE]: quit u hacker so u dont ruin my record Eisenhower: Nuts! benny~tow: wtf that mean? Eisenhower: meant to say nutsack lol finger slipped

322 I'm sure somebody noteworthy has gamed out what would happen if we did nuke Mecca. ---- As Mecca is of ultimate value to the Jihadis, targeting Mecca is an ultimate deterrent for us. Whether the story that some Pentagon friends of mine hinted at -- that a W-80 warhead is already buried in Mecca equipped to recognize a unique signal generator from a satellite for detonation - is true or if itÂ’s Psy-Ops, I donÂ’t know. The important thing is that the Jihadis donÂ’t know either. ThereÂ’s a discussion of this with a picture of a W-80 in the Mad in Mecca article (October 5, 2004) tothepointnews.com/content/view/1940/87/

323 wtf the luftwaffle is attacking me Roosevelt: get antiair guns Churchill: i cant afford them benny-tow: u n00bs know what team talk is? paTTon: stfu Roosevelt: o yah hit the navajo button guys Hahahaha!!!

324 No Hajj pilgrimage, no heaven.

325 Turned on the radio and Rush just mentioned the Worcester Telegram and Gazette, the paper I delivered daily in my youth.

326 What about the paper?

327 No Hajj pilgrimage, no heaven. Challenge accepted!

328 333 What about the paper? Posted by: EC at August 06, 2013 01:09 PM (GQ8sn) Was sold with the Globe.

329 My fingers are starting to burn, holding this lighter up, waiting on Ace.

330 That years ago it sold for more than the WaPo just did. He's mocking the lack of value left in he WaPo.

331 “And just to let you know I am not joking – before this meeting began, I ordered a squadron to drop one nuclear bomb on (name of city). They should have acquired target by now. “Goodbye, gentlemen, and please take this meeting seriously. If not, the next time we meet will be at your graves.” --- Ever seen the movie "Deterrence"? I have a feeling you'd love it.

332 336 My fingers are starting to burn, holding this lighter up, waiting on Ace. --- You're better off firing up the Ewok Signal.

333 President Obama on Tuesday will for the first time insist that any future housing system in the United States makes 30-year mortgages widely available to borrowers, senior administration officials said, preserving a linchpin of the American economy but also continuing to expose taxpayers to risk from another housing meltdown.

Obama previously called for the end of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage finance giants that have helped ensure the availability of 30-year mortgages for generations. He has not said, however, what system should replace Fannie and Freddie — and that raised concerns that the 30-year mortgage might disappear, because banks have been unwilling to lend for such a duration without a government guarantee.

Traveling to Phoenix on Tuesday, Obama is planning to call for a new system, built in part on government backing, that will enable wide access to 30-year mortgages, which are a rarity in other countries. That will require, officials said, some form of government guarantee that means lenders will be reimbursed by taxpayers in the event of a housing catastrophe like the one that occurred several years ago.

... so far this piece has really said nothing ...

334 Bet yall didn't think this was going to be the all day thread.

335 Random question: when referring to a fringe benefit, do you use perk or perq? I was taught that perq is proper but I'm seeing perk being used more often.

336 No Hajj pilgrimage, no heaven.

So threatening to nuke Mecca would be a strong deterrent, but what if we actually did nuke it?  Wouldn't that drive every Muslim who believed they were denied any chance to entry to Heaven batshit insane?  Why would that pacify them after the fact?

337 My late and great father was a Marine training to invade Japan. Truman was his favorite president after this day.

338 I was taught that perq is proper but I'm seeing perk being used more often. I have never seen perq, but I do wonder, who cared about the propriety of perq vs. perk and not perquisite.

339 The perk at my job is I get nothing and I like it.

340 They'll just find another City and claim it was the true Mecca all along.

341 I was taught that perq is proper but I'm seeing perk being used more often.

Posted by: alexthechick

Perq. Fuck the illiterates.

342 So threatening to nuke Mecca would be a strong deterrent, but what if we actually did nuke it? Wouldn't that drive every Muslim who believed they were denied any chance to entry to Heaven batshit insane? Why would that pacify them after the fact? Posted by: bonhomme at August 06, 2013 01:12 PM (A0glY) I supposed it would be the end of islam after this last generation dies out. Would they still face toward the crater and pray?

343 Random question: when referring to a fringe benefit, do you use perk or perq? I was taught that perq is proper but I'm seeing perk being used more often.

Perq for perquisite.  Perk if you're talking about a benefit.

Otherwise, do your own thang, not like Obama's listening. 

*is he?*

344 Not withstanding BG (R) Tibbett badass-ed-ness, how cool would it be to have the first name "Studs?"

345 "Ok, maybe I'm missing the part of the page that describes how an observer in Baltimore would or wouldn't notice the blast. Is it the little marker guy?"

If you drag a Tiny Tim size detonation over to the White House, the radiation barely makes it to the Ellipse. Overpressurization barely exceeds the actual White House grounds.

Baltimore being about 65 miles away at the north end, other than possibly the cloud, if I was in the back yard, facing the other way with the two story house between me and DC, it's possible that I might miss it.

Now if one selects the Tzar Bomb, and selects the Casualties, and fallout option, all the way to Boston and beyond.

346 O/T, Bad news for Tony Stewart and NASDCAR Fans. Tony was seriously injured after a crash in a sprint car last night. Broken leg in two places (Reportedly)

347 343 No Hajj pilgrimage, no heaven. So threatening to nuke Mecca would be a strong deterrent, but what if we actually did nuke it? Wouldn't that drive every Muslim who believed they were denied any chance to entry to Heaven batshit insane? Why would that pacify them after the fact? It would not. This has been going on for over a 1,000 years. Why do you think they will stop until everyone get to go to Muslim heaven, together?

348

Posted by: bonhomme at August 06, 2013 01:12 PM (A0glY)

 

 

Two Holy cities being destroyed by 'Fire' is a precursor step to Islam's Armageddon.....

 

Some... like Amadinajad in Iran, believe that men can purposely bring  on the steps for the next prophet to appear...

349 Would they still face toward the crater and pray?

What if that labia rock thing wasn't destroyed because it's magick?  If the blast relocated it, would they pray to its new location?

350 348 I was taught that perq is proper but I'm seeing perk being used more often.

Posted by: alexthechick

Perq. Fuck the illiterates.

Posted by: weft cut-loop at August 06, 2013 01:14 PM (oECwy)

AoSHQ.  Come for the dick jokes and boobies, stay for the edcation.

351 If the blast relocated it, would they pray to its new location? Posted by: bonhomme at August 06, 2013 01:17 PM (J79eW) Hahaha!!! It flies off and lands in................ ...Israel!

352 Random question: when referring to a fringe benefit, do you use perk or perq? I was taught that perq is proper but I'm seeing perk being used more often. Posted by: alexthechick - Welcome mighty SMODlets! at August 06, 2013 01:12 PM (VtjlW) perk [ purk ] additional benefit: a benefit given to an employee in addition to a salary, e.g. the use of a car or membership in a club Synonyms: bonus, perquisite, plus, incentive, benefit, advantage, extra, sweetener, plus point, privilege, gratuity, freebie, pro

353 Anyone seen our jaunty little Ewok this morning? Hope he hasn't banned himself again

354 Tony was seriously injured after a crash in a sprint car last night. Broken leg in two places (Reportedly) Posted by: Oldsailors Poet at August 06, 2013 01:16 PM

The reports I saw said Stewart broke two bones (tib and fib).

He's enough of a badass to race with a cast if he wants to. Man has big brass ones.

He'll be back in any case. He loves him some racin' -- in any style of race car.

355

342 Random question: when referring to a fringe benefit, do you use perk or perq? I was taught that perq is proper but I'm seeing perk being used more often.

 

Perq being short for perquisite, I prefer it as well. I suspect the younguns don't know words like perquisite.

 

356 US senators in Cairo call for political prisoners' release Published: 08.06.13, 19:34 / Israel News Two US senators visiting Cairo on Tuesday urged both sides in Egypt's political crisis to start a national dialogue and to avoid violence. Senators Lindsey Graham and John McCain, on a mission for US President Barack Obama to help resolve the crisis brought on by the overthrow of President Mohamed Morsi last month, also called for the release of political prisoners. It would be the wrong time to cut off military aid to Egypt as a response to Morsi's removal by the army, they told a news conference. (Reuters) These 2 blithering idiots don't get it, and in that once statement insulted both sides.

357

Hahaha!!! It flies off and lands in................

 

...Israel!

 

 

Posted by: EC at August 06, 2013 01:18 PM (GQ8sn)

 

 

And they would then claim Israel... as Allah put their Holy rock there....

358 *is he?*

Posted by: bonhomme at August 06, 2013 01:15 PM (J79eW)

No.

359

Two US senators visiting Cairo on Tuesday urged both sides in Egypt's political crisis to start a national dialogue and to avoid violence.

Senators Lindsey Graham and John McCain.....

 

Posted by: Nevergiveup at August 06, 2013 01:19 PM (9Xc5j)

-

Why don't they offer to trade places?  Win-win.

360 Perhaps Ed Henry kidnapped Ace?

361 Someone summon willow   to post a comment!   We need a new thread.

362 Wow, it's only 42 straight line miles from White House to VIA house.

I might actually see the kaboom.

363 I suspect the younguns don't know words like perquisite.

That's retarded, sir.

364 chris brown is threatening to retire!!!! lol!!!!

365 G.W. Bush just had a stent procedure.

366 Posted by: Billy Bob, pseudo intellectal at August 06, 2013 01:16 PM (wR+pz)

Islam can be pacified. It requires a combination of unrestricted war and outreach to the small minority of moderates in the Islamic world.

But mostly unrestricted warfare.

367 Might be a while, he was up late last night posting pictures of bad hair, bad teeth, and smiling sloths. Not to mention, people were messing with him in the first ONT. And this time, I actually agreed with him.

368 And they would then claim Israel... as Allah put their Holy rock there....

Israel needs to play some hardcore capture the flag with that thing.  Only don't keep it, put it someplace "unholy" to Islam.  What's an "unholy" place?  The location where Muhammad was poisoned?  Maybe the middle of an ancient dog kennel?

369 Tancredo called for nuking Mecca. He got nuked instead. After the next good strike on US soil the proposition might see renewed popularity.

370 Typically once I comment a new thread appears. Hold tight, everyone (not you, Weiner).

371 Just as a side note my Grandfather was at the treaty signing as Captain of the USS Nicholson DD 442 as one of two destroyers invited to the signing in Tokyo Harbor. Incidentally he was the XO on the Roper (his 1st Silver Star) that sank the first U boat by the US Navy in WWII. I wish I had got to meet him but he died before I was born. But living in a town like Annapolis I have met plenty who did, he enjoyed the moron lifestyle apparently.

372

It took the second bomb (and the implication that we could keep doing this All. Month. Long.) to force things.

------------

 

Which, ironically, wasn't true.  iirc, the two bombs were the only ones that we had in our inventory at the time.

 

I spent some time up in the Tri-Cities are in Washington.  The Hanford Nuclear Power Plant is located up in that area, and the plutonium for one of the bombs came from there.  One of the local high schools is the Richland Bombers.  Guess where that name came from?

 

As bad as it sounds, a part of me is glad that the Japanese provided an excuse to use the bombs.  If the bombs hadn't been used, then people wouldn't understand just how horrifying they really are.  And there would probably have been a bigger push to use them en masse with all of the problems that would cause.  Further, if it had been any country other than the US (and possibly Great Britain) that developed the bomb first, then I think there would have been a good chance of seeing them used en masse later on regardless of how horrifying they are.  In short, I suspect that only the fact that they were used before they were widely available, coupled with the fact that the US got the bomb first, prevented more wide-spread use of the bomb.

 

373 What's an "unholy" place? The location where Muhammad was poisoned? Maybe the middle of an ancient dog kennel? Hollywood Boulevard?

374 We're still here? Smells a little in here. Like feet and cabbage.

375 What's an "unholy" place? The location where Muhammad was poisoned? Maybe the middle of an ancient dog kennel? Middle of a pig farm.

376 Of note:

"..the United States called for a surrender of Japan in the Potsdam Declaration on 26 July 1945, threatening Japan with "prompt and utter destruction". The Japanese government ignored this ultimatum.

--- Meh, no reaction by the Japs.

"American airmen dropped Little Boy on the city of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945.

---- Reaction by the Japs, "Sorry no unconditional surrender."

"Fat Man over Nagasaki on 9 August."

--- Japs, "Ok joe."

377 Numerous embassies shut down. Americans worldwide told to be extremely cautious. Claims of very credible intelligence gathered. "Hi Jay, it's uhhh, great, now let me be clear, great to be back."

378

The location where Muhammad was poisoned? Maybe the middle of an ancient dog kennel?

 

 

Posted by: bonhomme at August 06, 2013 01:23 PM (4QSOR)

 

 

Put it in.... Russia?  Let them mess with Vlad?

379 Which, ironically, wasn't true. iirc, the two bombs were the only ones that we had in our inventory at the time. One of which wasnÂ’t even tested. It was the simpler one, though, so they were pretty sure it was going to go off.

380

"Perk" is the most widely used shortened version of "perquisite," though I believe either "perq" or "perk" is acceptable.  YOu'll probably get flagged by spellcheck over "perq," though.

381 Is it time for the new thread up fake-out posts, yet.

382 Smells a little in here. Like feet and cabbage.

Posted by: BCochran1981 at August 06, 2013 01:24 PM (da5Wo)

 

I saw Feet and Cabbage open for the Dead in '72.

383 Hi everybody!

384 Hi everybody! Posted by: vvillovv at August 06, 2013 01:26 PM (KXm42) *checks for new thread*

385 388 Is it time for the new thread up fake-out posts, yet. Posted by: flounder at August 06, 2013 01:26 PM (Kkt/i) I don't get the humor, but go ahead.

386 Perq being short for perquisite, I prefer it as well. I suspect the younguns don't know words like perquisite. Posted by: Anachronda at August 06, 2013 01:19 PM (IrbU4) Dude, it's spelled P-E-R-C-O-C-E-T. Narc.

387 I saw Feet and Cabbage open for the Dead in '72. Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at August 06, 2013 01:26 PM (zF6Iw) Did they play Smells Like Death? That was my favorite song of theirs.

388 Re: Nuking Mecca to pacify Muslims

I'm just jaded enough to believe that this whole modern Jihad thing is the creation of a bunch of sick, evil, perverts who call themselves "holy men" and who get their jollies by buggering little boys and having young men heed their orders to go out and off themselves.

I think we could tone down a lot of the violence if we presented these "holy men" with credible evidence that any act of terrorism anywhere in the world will result in THEIR immediate, and bloodily spectacular, personal demise.

Think the Baptism scene from "The Godfather".

But that's not going to happen any more than the "nuclear option" is, so I guess the whole thing is academic.

389 I don't get the humor, but go ahead.

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet at August 06, 2013 01:27 PM (XIxXP)

I just figured there was one in every crowd.

390 It used to be so easy back in the day.
All anyone had to do to get ace to show up was post that they were holding a fresh bag of Rubio's garbage.

Now....not so much.

391 Some... like Amadinajad in Iran, believe that men can purposely bring on the steps for the next prophet to appear... Posted by: Romeo13, from an undisclosed Secret Lair at August 06, 2013 01:17 PM

Yeah, exactly -- both Mecca and Medina are destroyed.  It would be like throwing gasoline on a fire.

(Of course, the Joos did it...)  but in reality, I see a militant Islamic group.

392 You know what's ironic?  Obama is going to talk to the one guy in the US who is losing his job that Obama is not responsible for.

393 Which, ironically, wasn't true. iirc, the two bombs were the only ones that we had in our inventory at the time. NOt really true. We had other bomb assemblies on Tinian without the nuclear cores which were in the process of being made in the US and were only weeks away.

394 In his first interview since his supervised release from prison, the filmmaker behind “Innocence of Muslims” told The Daily Caller that he “has no regrets” and promises more films and books about Islam. Nakoula Basseley Nakoula is the only person who has been imprisoned in the aftermath of the organized Sept. 11, 2012 terrorist attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, in which the ambassador and three other Americans were killed. He was wholly unconnected to the attack and was imprisoned on technical probation violations. “The first reason I am writing this book is to tell the world we never forget our heroes and the second reason is to tell [everyone] that I’m not afraid,” Nakoula writes in a foreword obtained exclusively by The Daily Caller. “I want the world to see the truth,” Nakoula told TheDC over the phone. Ah HA!! All these threats are because he spoke out again! I knew it!!

395 Jay Leno's first question should be: "Thanks for being here. But with embassy's closing all over the world on the threat of the worst terrorist attack since 9/11, shouldn't you be at work rather than flying across the country to do my comedy show?"

396 Ah HA!! All these threats are because he spoke out again! I knew it!! Posted by: RWC
-------------

Of course.., I mean, hell's bells, what if the guy releases another video?

397 What was his original crime, prior to the film, for which he was on probation? Financial crime of some sort?

398 embassies.... ugh

399 13:32 and still no Ace? wow he must really be disgusted with yous

400 NOt really true. We had other bomb assemblies on Tinian without the nuclear cores which were in the process of being made in the US and were only weeks away.

Old project manager told me "Take your best estimate, double it, and add one."

Example:
Best estimate: four hours
Doubled: eight hours
Stated estimate: nine hours

Example 2:
Best estimate: three weeks
Doubled: six weeks
Stated estimate: seven weeks

401 @134, here's that link. Better late than never.

http://preview.tinyurl.com/md5ndn5

402 Does anyone know why Al Sharpton now looks like he is a bobble-head due to massive weight loss? The slims? Flatworm? Gastric bypass? His head is starting to take the shape of a bike helmet.

403 Jay Leno's first question should be:

"Thanks for being here. But with embassy's closing all over the world on the threat of the worst terrorist attack since 9/11, shouldn't you be at work rather than flying across the country to do my comedy show?"

Posted by: USA at August 06, 2013 01:30 PM (VIaw0)

 

Obama is ALWAYS at work!  Even when you Rethuglican racists try to STOP him!!  He's the PRESIDENT!  Not like your stupid cowboy Bush at his phony ranch 392 days a year!  ELEVENTY!!!!

404 Is it wrong to think that this is what should have been done in Afghanistan about two days after 9/11?

Posted by: PAgirlinNC at August 06, 2013 11:18 AM (mPKiR)

Honestly, I don't think that would have done any good. I don't know that Afghanistan, as a geographic entity, or as a government, was directly responsible for 9/11. Sure they gave safe harbor to Al Qaeda, but that could be said for almost any muslim-majority country.

The target that should have been nuked was mecca. There lies the root of the rot.

405

GM Cut's Plug-In Volt's Price to boost   sales

The Detroit News: http://tiny.cc/ofoe1w

 

The Detroit-based automaker said it will cut the base price 12.5 percent, from $39,995 to $34,995. The price cut comes just weeks after the automaker announced a $5,000 give-back on the 2012 Volt and $4,000 on the 2013 model.

 

 

*SNORT*   Yeah, that'll help

406

Is it ever acceptable to do evil in hopes of achieving good? I say not. (http://tinyurl.com/kkm5fe8)

The definition of murder is intentionally killing an innocent.

Leaflets and alternative scenarios notwithstanding, if an intended goal of the bombing was to kill thousands of civilians in order to break the enemy's will to fight, then the action was intrinsically wrong. To deny that there were any innocent non-combatants in the obliterated city is to exchange Just War principles for the unrestrained evils of Total War.

If the Japanese had done the same to Los Angeles, who would not call it a war crime? Yes, they started it and their forces committed atrocities, but does that make every enemy civilian fair game?

407 Old project manager told me "Take your best estimate, double it, and add one." Example: Best estimate: four hours Doubled: eight hours Stated estimate: nine hours Example 2: Best estimate: three weeks Doubled: six weeks Stated estimate: seven weeks Posted by: bonhomme at August 06, 2013 01:32 PM (9PrpA) Well maybe, but one core was in the process of being loaded for shipment to Tinian when the Japs surrendered and the plans for the invasion of Japan called for the dropping of multiple Nukes to pave the way for the ground troops

408

Posted by: ChristyBlinky, Scandalous Redneck Queen and train detective at August 06, 2013 01:33 PM (baL2B)

 

 

Check out his new YOUNG slutty Girlfriend...

409
They'll just find another City and claim it was the true Mecca all along.

Complete with the One True Rock.

410 Old project manager told me "Take your best estimate, double it, and add one." But donÂ’t tell the development team.

411 Does anyone know why Al Sharpton now looks like he is a bobble-head due to massive weight loss? The slims? Flatworm? Gastric bypass? His head is starting to take the shape of a bike helmet.

Posted by: ChristyBlinky, Scandalous Redneck Queen and train detective at August 06, 2013 01:33 PM (baL2B)

 

He hasn't been the same since Popeye's stopped giving quantity discounts and home delivery.

412 5,000 dollar "give back".? Like you bought a car last year and this year they just send you 5 grand out of kindness?

413 I read that the First Lady wants to put hip hop videos in school. I would settle for literate teachers teaching, mathematics, classical literature, world history and science. No time to teach cursive or grammar. But Hip Hop!!!

414 Slow news day?

415 Oh....
And this is for our Government minders watching the site.

I am not advocating the bombing of anything on American soil.
The choice to use the White House as a blast effect example was simply due to the fact that most people can find the White House, and it gives a sense of scale that most people can grasp.

It's a pity that I feel compelled to write that, but there it is.

416 Radio Bikini is a good watch on Netflix.  Details the development of the bomb post WWII.

http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/Radio_Bikini/60033508?locale=en-US

417 I think we could tone down a lot of the violence if we presented these "holy men" with credible evidence that any act of terrorism anywhere in the world will result in THEIR immediate, and bloodily spectacular, personal demise.

Posted by: Nighthawk

That implies they use reason and fact to arrive at their beliefs, and that would be entirely wrong.

The Arab world is plagued by a pathological level of paranoia, conspiracy, and wishful thought. You can't reason someone out of a position at which they arrived through belief, to say nothing of cultural-wide pathologies.

418
The
definition of murder is intentionally killing an innocent.

***

I would say that the definition of murder is unlawful homicide.  The homicides at Hiroshima were not unlawful therefore not murder.  (That's my opinion of abortion, too.  No matter how disgusting, morally bankrupt, and dishonest abortions are, they are not unlawful and therefore not murder.)

419 "Maybe they just weren't "good and ready to surrender" or they were "fixin' to surrender". Or something." Like our economy, they were POISED to surrender

420 I read that the First Lady wants to put hip hop videos in school.

Where the fuck has she been the past twenty-odd years?

421 Contrary View

Both cities were viable military targets

422 @213 Alger Hiss really was a Commie spy.
HRH George III really was worth fighting in our Revolution.

423

So threatening to nuke Mecca would be a strong deterrent, but what if we actually did nuke it? Wouldn't that drive every Muslim who believed they were denied any chance to entry to Heaven batshit insane? Why would that pacify them after the fact?

 

Posted by: bonhomme at August 06, 2013 01:12 PM (A0glY)

 

Which is different than now how, exactly?

 

It's also why you nuke Mecca during the hajj.

424

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at August 06, 2013 01:36 PM (c8tlE)

 

 

Are we free, when we fear our own government?

 

 

When I travel, I usually have the 45 in a lock box, in the trunk of the car...

 

 

I had to pick up my Son at LAX airport  this trip... so had to leave the gun at home...

 

Just that I had to consider it... is an indication of how far we have fallen...

425 But donÂ’t tell the development team. Posted by: Stephen Price Blair
------------

Lord no. Let those poor assholes labor under the pressure of a bogus drop-dead ship date. So what if they work 60 hrs. a week, ignoring friends and family? They're on salary, so it's no skin off of our ass, and besides they're  the ones working nights and weekends, not us.

426 if an intended goal of the bombing was to kill thousands of civilians in order to break the enemy's will to fight, then the action was intrinsically wrong I seem to recall that the intended goal was to destroy some military facilities; which they had placed within the cities. Good Bill Whittle rant in name.

427 And there are millions alive right now that wouldn't have been if the bombs and the subsequent surrender hadn't occurred.

Anyone saying different is mentally deficient and any other opinions they have should be considered suspect.

428 The Arab world African American community is plagued by a pathological level of paranoia, conspiracy, and wishful thought. You can't reason someone out of a position at which they arrived through belief, to say nothing of cultural-wide pathologies.

Posted by: weft cut-loop at August 06, 2013 01:37 PM (oECwy)

Cut and paste.

429 Radio Bikini sounds like it should star Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon.

430 The target that should have been nuked was mecca. There lies the root of the rot.

Disagree.  Muhammad is Islam's "perfect man".  If you're a Muslim, you should model your life after him.  Arabian conquest, Medina conquest, the man was a savage warlord and not a very skillful politician. 

The root of the rot is Muhammad.

431 My Grandfather was a B29 pilot and flew out of Saipan and Tinian. He was a great and wise man. I asked him about the decision and it was an emphatic hell yes. I hate  the revisionists who whine that we shouldn't have. Easy for them to say not being some 18 year old kid who would have faced horrible odds. The thing is that more people actually died during the fire bombing of Tokyo than the bomb. We had every right to do it.

432 Ahhh, the sweet perspective contained with a universe governed by reality. We made the right call. No amount of historical manipulation or rigging of the record will ever change that simple, simple fact.

433 Where the fuck has she been the past twenty-odd years?
Posted by: HeatherRadish
--------------

Living large sister, living large...

434

Where the fuck has she been the past twenty-odd years?

 

Elbow-deep in the buffet trough.

435 Let those poor assholes labor under the pressure of a bogus drop-dead ship date. If the reasonable estimate before doubling was not reasonable, then the doubling is irrelevant. If the internal timeline assumes the doubled estimate, then when things go wrong, even the doubled estimate will be missed.

436 "Anumber ofyears ago, I attended aprogram at the Smithsonianfeaturing a couple ofWWII pilots who participated in the Dresden bombing."

As mentioned in an earlier thread about the 9/11 museum (where the delicate progressive metrosexual type who curated the photography thought the iconic firefighters' flag raising afterward was "too American"), the Smithsonian also has tried to get away with a massively revisionist exhibit about the bombing of Hiroshima by the _Enola Gay_. One which, if I recall correctly, didn't even mention that little event called Pearl Harbor.

When the New Left drew up their own target lists in the late 1960s, for their "long march through the institutions" which they intended to move into and subvert to their ends, you can be sure that the Smithsonian was not omitted.

I haven't been to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in a geologic age, but a friend who was there relatively recently with his kids conveyed that the place had gone wildly over the top with global warming agitprop. To include stuff about truly enormous sea level rise projections that even the likes of the IPCC don't believe any longer.

437 Radio Bikini sounds like it should star Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon.

 

Posted by: Lincolntf at August 06, 2013 01:40 PM (ZshNr)

 

With music by Oingo Boingo or Wall of Voodoo.

438 Perq. Fuck the illiterates.
Posted by: weft cut-loop at August 06, 2013 01:14 PM (oECwy)

Their unable to get they're theres straight; perq is a britch two-fer.

439
Check out his new YOUNG slutty Girlfriend...

Posted by: Romeo13, from an undisclosed Secret Lair at August 06, 2013 01:35 PM (teaad)

I am thinking "the slims" vs gastric bypass. His head always looks photoshopped onto the wrong body.

440 422 Oh.... And this is for our Government minders watching the site. --- Too late! They already buried some bomb parts in your yard. Next stop - arraignment and conviction. That happened BTW. Was even admitted to by the ATF in court. Didn't change the guilty verdict.

441 If the Japanese had done the same to Los Angeles, who would not
call it a war crime? Yes, they started it and their forces committed
atrocities, but does that make every enemy civilian fair game?

Posted by: Contrary View at August 06, 2013 01:34 PM (k5bZV)

 

 

-----------------------------------------------

 

 

In all-out war everyone is game.  Break the enemy's will to fight by every possible means.  Cruel but very effective.

 

The US hasn't done this since WWII, and we haven't won any wars  since then.

442 I read that the First Lady wants to put hip hop videos in school.

***

sounds like a plan to me.  Anything they have to do they won't like.  Let's also forbid them from listening to Bach and we can have a truly musically educated generation.  Of course, they probably be killing each other over whether Aire on a G String or Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring is better.

443 Keep moving. Sock removal. Nothing to see here.

444 And there are millions alive right now that wouldn't have been if the bombs and the subsequent surrender hadn't occurred.


Gaia weeps.  And the bombs only made more work for the Death Panels.

445 @437 Should we try to put some ham in Muhammad?

http://preview.tinyurl.com/qh4qaq3

446  If the Japanese had done the same to Los Angeles, who would not call it a war crime? Yes, they started it and their forces committed atrocities, but does that make every enemy civilian fair game?
Posted by: Contrary View at August 06, 2013 01:34 PM .......................My grandfather was B29 Pilot. More people died during the fire bombing of Tokyo. They didn't have pinpoint munitions like today. Your contrarian view is frankly a bunch of shit. Because of how the Japanese fought it actually saved more lives on their side as well than it took.

447

We made the right call. No amount of historical manipulation or rigging of the record will ever change that simple, simple fact.

-

Most of the people who are doing the manipulation have no idea what that war was like.  Having a method to force the end of the war in a   couple of    weeks'   time was a Godsend, versus another six months of fighting, with hundreds of thousands of American and millions of Japanese deaths.  Were I a    crewman   on one of the 29s, I would    feel sorrow for the children who died, but knowing that I was sparing millions of others the same fate would overcome it.

448 438 My Grandfather was a B29 pilot and flew out of Saipan and Tinian. He was a great and wise man. I asked him about the decision and it was an emphatic hell yes. I hate the revisionists who whine that we shouldn't have. Easy for them to say not being some 18 year old kid who would have faced horrible odds. The thing is that more people actually died during the fire bombing of Tokyo than the bomb. We had every right to do it.

Posted by: Minnfidel at August 06, 2013 01:40 PM (298ij)

One of the few arguments I had with my Daddy was over the determent camps in WWII. I worked with a great Japanese-American nurse who lived in one. She did not complain, just stated the fact. I then read of how people were taken from their homes, etc. after Pearl Harbor. My Dad always insisted that it had to be done, as no one knew what would happen next. On 9/11, within an hour after the attacks on the WTC and Pentagon, one of my first calls (after calls to husband and sons) was to Daddy. My first words, after asking if he was watching on TV, were "Now I understand what you meant." Right or wrong, sometimes things "have to be done" such as the big bombs.

449

Of course, they probably be killing each other over whether Aire on a G String or Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring is better.

 

The Brandenburg Concertos FTW, muthafucka!

450 I didn't tell the whole story behind the project manager's dictum.

Your best estimate is a real and true best estimate.

The reason behind the doubling + 1 is life and unknown variables.  It's a rule of thumb that in my own life has proven true time and again.  The doubled timeline ends up being accurate more frequently than not.  This timeline is the one you publish, not because you're trying to cheat or trick anyone, but because it ends up being reasonable and accurate.

451 If the Japanese had done the same to Los Angeles, who would not call it a war crime? Yes, they started it and their forces committed atrocities, but does that make every enemy civilian fair game? Posted by: Contrary View at August 06, 2013 01:34 PM (k5bZV) Your making the mistake of using "todays" morals ( questionable as they may be) to judge an action from 60+ years ago. For better or worse bombing civilian infrastructure in WW2 was par for the course. But nice try

452 *sigh*  Does it count as a barrel-worthy offense if you copy/paste your   own comment twice in the comment box?

453 Let those poor assholes labor under the pressure of a bogus drop-dead ship date. So what if they work 60 hrs. a week, ignoring friends and family?

Developers?  LOLWUT?  They fuck around with their toy helicopters until two weeks after the software is due to be baselined, because the VERIFICATION TEAM will be working nights and weekends (while developers go out to company-sponsored beer fests to celebrate the heroic feats of the verification team on the last release) to make the "all software and docxs to the client" deadline. 

Excuse me, I have to break some things.

454

Temporary shutdowns of embassys shows just how little this jug eared fuck understands about foreign policy.

 

Under a real administration, host countries would be made to understand that embassies are their responsibility to protect.  If the U.S. can't depend on the host country to insure the people inside are safe, there will be no embassy (and therefore no relationship) in that country.

 

It's so fucking easy when you have people in charge who know how to lead. 

 

 

455 So she's offended because the term "Paleo" is not being used with the definition she chooses to attach to it. Childish twit.

456 torquewrench- I understand the Smithsonian is trying to acquire Trayvon Martin's hoodie. Presumably, it will enshrined..., for some reason.

457 Working PJTV link:
http://www.pjtv.com/?cmd=mpg&mpid=56

458 torquewrench- I understand the Smithsonian is trying to acquire Trayvon Martin's hoodie. Presumably, it will enshrined..., for some reason. Posted by: Mike Hammer at August 06, 2013 01:50 PM (aDwsi) Unfortunetaly the curators are educated by the liberal dominated college/university system in this country.

459 460 *sigh* Does it count as a barrel-worthy offense if you copy/paste your own comment twice in the comment box? Posted by: MWR, Proud Tea(rrorist) Party Assault Hobbit at August 06, 2013 01:49 PM (4df7R) I say we let you choose, Barrel or Trampoline. But...we get to pick the attire for the Trampoline.

460 This thread stinks worse than Amanda Marcotte's underwear.

461 >>If the Japanese had done the same to Los Angeles, who would not call it a war crime? Yes, they started it and their forces committed atrocities, but does that make every enemy civilian fair game? The Japanese made it abundantly clear that they would not accept the terms of unconditional surrender. They were making plans to defend their homeland as we were making plans to invade. Those plans included arming civilians to fight against our soldiers and there is not doubt 10's of thousands would have been killed along with thousands of our own soldiers had we invaded. The Japanese were given fair warning that if they chose to keep fighting we would use our new and terrifyingly destructive weapons against their homeland. They chose not once but twice to ignore the warning. They chose poorly. Our goal was to defeat a country that had attacked us and cost us dearly in blood and treasure and to do it by risking as few American lives as possible. It would have been criminal not to have used any weapon at our disposal to end that war as expeditiously as possible. And before shedding too many tears for the Japanese read a bit on the Rape of Nanking.

462 So she's offended because the term "Paleo" is not being used with the definition she chooses to attach to it. Childish twit.

Posted by: Lincolntf at August 06, 2013 01:50 PM (ZshNr)

 

I don't think she's offended.  She's just saying that for someone to follow a genune Paleo diet, it doesn't make sense to ask for a Cuisinart on your wedding registry.  Ask instead for a larvae incubator, since larvae    were and are a big part of the hunter/gatherer diet and have not been cultivated like    cash crops   that fill the    local grocery store's shelves.

463 Is Ace still seeking solace with that sloth after yesterday's s**tstorm/ONT?

464 Leaflets and alternative scenarios notwithstanding, if an intended goal of the bombing was to kill thousands of civilians in order to break the enemy's will to fight, then the action was intrinsically wrong. To deny that there were any innocent non-combatants in the obliterated city is to exchange Just War principles for the unrestrained evils of Total War.

If.  There were plenty of military goals - destroy housing, the city's manufacturing, any military infrastructure.  

Civilians were killed by the nukes and no one is denying that.   As far as assigning blame, at least half has to be placed upon a nation and culture that practiced total war and unrestrained cruelty and brutality.  

If you're going to bring up Just War, the nukes were Just Judgement.  

465 Excuse me, I have to break some things.
Posted by: HeatherRadish
---------

Not all projects are software, and not all engineers are little boys.

466 @453 Waxing pedantic, but it is worth pointing out that a conditional proposition whose antecedent is contrary to fact logically implies anything. E.g.: "If President Obama weren't a Socialist, pigs would fly."
"If a frog had wings, he wouldn't bump his ass."
"If the Japs had nuked L.A. the space aliens would return."
Try Neverland without a bayonet. OK if you have enough fairy dust.

467

This thread stinks worse than Amanda Marcotte's underwear.

 

**squints, adjusts Stetson**

 

Yup.

 

**squints again, whistles theme to The  Good, the Bad and the Ugly**

468 ace is working on my very special birthday post....it's going to be epic......leave him alone!!!!!!

469 Maybe if we all WISH really LOUDLY, we'll get a new thread.  Even an open thread.   This one is getting pretty crowded, and someone   smells like cheese.

470 If I win the Powerball I am going to make a museum with stuff that talks about the parts of American and world history that the PC crowd and leftists ignore.

I would fill it with lots of whiz-bang exhibits and things which would keep kids interested and it would become a destination stop.

And I would put it in the Midwest,  far away from Chicago or St. Louis.

471 If you want a fascinating look into the physics of astronomy and nuclear weapons (which are closely related), pick up a copy of "Empire of the Stars".  Very insightful.

472 Not all projects are software

Huh.  All these years, I thought all industries tested things before releasing them.  Learn something every day.

473 476 ace is working on my very special birthday post....it's going to be epic......leave him alone!!!!!! Posted by: phoenixgirl at work...birthday girl at August 06, 2013 01:55 PM (+x+nU) It's your bday?? Happy BDay!!! I believe traditions require you to receive swats... jk Hope you enjoy your day.

474 Developers? LOLWUT? They fuck around with their toy helicopters until two weeks after the software is due to be baselined, because the VERIFICATION TEAM will be working nights and weekends (while developers go out to company-sponsored beer fests to celebrate the heroic feats of the verification team on the last release) to make the "all software and docxs to the client" deadline.

Excuse me, I have to break some things.

Are you software QA HeatherRadish?  If so, me too!

Sounds like you need to push TDD to get testing going earlier in the process.  Nothing makes me happier than finding a ship-stopper bug when the devs think they're free and clear and ready to party.

475 Happy birthday, PG!  

476 thanks bc.....

477 If anybody tells you the bombings were unnecessary or inhumane, show them this photo: http://tinyurl.com/lgytx6v

That's what we would have been up against. Anybody and everybody, including schoolgirls, capable of handling whatever weapons were available to them, making human wave attacks against invading forces in the name of the Emperor. Of course, they all would have been killed, and a lot more of ours would have died, and I don't know why being nuked is any worse than being cut to pieces by machine gun fire or shell fragments.

478 If the Japanese had done the same to Los Angeles, who would not
call it a war crime? Yes, they started it and their forces committed
atrocities, but does that make every enemy civilian fair game?

Posted by: Contrary View at August 06, 2013 01:34 PM (k5bZV)

 

-- I have been thinking about this. The rational for dropping the atomic bombs was that it would save untold numbers of lives on both sides.

If the estimated casualties to Americans was just one hang nail, I would have dropped the bombs

You do notice that the Japanese have been a very docile race since then.

 

479 And here come the afternoon reports.  I'm out for the day.  If I feel  OK  when I get home, I'll whip up a Hollywood story for tomorrow.

480 ace is working on my very special birthday post....it's going to be epic......leave him alone!!!!!!

Posted by: phoenixgirl at work...birthday girl at August 06, 2013 01:55 PM (+x+nU)


If you'll give me your phone number I'd like to send you a very special birthday gift.

481 Happy birthday, PG!

482 Huh. All these years, I thought all industries tested things before releasing them. Learn something every day. The story goes that, back when Radio Shack came out with the TRS-80—which became the best-selling computer of its day—Radio Shack, not in the business generally of making their own stuff, had no concept of alpha and beta versions of software, so when the programmer they hired sent them an alpha version to test, they packaged it and shipped it out.

483

Anyone else read that "73 Rules for Running For President as a Republican" Redstate article linked in   the sidebar?   Am I the only one who thinks it's   a long   piece of    mealy-mouthed twaddle?      Particularly when you consider this,   from the   piece itself:

 

"(Rule) 26-Principles inspire; overly complex, specific plans are a pinata that can get picked to death.     If youÂ’re tied down defending Point 7 of a 52 point plan that will never survive contact with the Congress anyway you lose.     Complex plans need to be able to be boiled down to the principles and incentives they will operate on. The boiling is the key part."

 

McLaughlin is saying that long, 52 point plans are a bad thing (agreed)...   in a column that is called "Seventy-Three Rules for Running for President as a Republican."

 

Physician, heal thyself.

 

484 ace is working on my very special birthday post....it's going to be epic......leave him alone!!!!!!

Posted by: phoenixgirl at work...birthday girl at August 06, 2013 01:55 PM (+x+nU)


In Peruvia it's traditional for the birthday girl to have her boobs squeezed by the village headman, or mayor, if you will.  Just sayin'.

485 thanks red!

486

MPPPP,No excuses

We need a story

TIA

487

Wonder where Mr. Fur is?

488 If the Japanese had done the same to Los Angeles, who would not call it a war crime? Yes, they started it and their forces committed atrocities, but does that make every enemy civilian fair game? Don't start no shit. Won't be no shit.

489 Ace is busy writing a 5,000 word lecture to the ONT crew on why we can't have nice things. I saw mu husband posted early on it. Hopefully he didn't get our home IP banned. Again.

490 In Peruvia it's traditional for the birthday girl to have her boobs squeezed by the village headman, or mayor, if you will. Just sayin'.

Are the Peruvians white or not?  I must have this information to determine if their culture is worth emulating.

491 @470 Why grow yer own larvae when your neighborhood is likely filled with mobile protein resources, many of which are defenseless? It just takes up valuable counter space.

492 Wonder where Mr. Fur is? Posted by: BackwardsBoy, who did not vote for this shit at August 06, 2013 02:03 PM (0HooB) Hanging out with the sloth, probablyÂ…

493 Physician, heal thyself. Posted by: MWR, Proud Tea(rrorist) Party Assault Hobbit at August 06, 2013 02:02 PM (4df7R) Ha! I actually hadn't thought of that part. That's funny. I thought it had good points and bad points. A lot of them seemed to overlap. I think he was stretching so he could get to a big number. I think I'd have one rule. Be Yourself. The voters deserve to know who you truly are. If "being you" can't get you elected, then you shouldn't be.

494 Are the Peruvians white or not? Posted by: bonhomme at August 06, 2013 02:05 PM (2hTlI) They are some type of weaselÂ…

495 I saw mu husband posted early on it. Hopefully he didn't get our home IP banned. Again. Posted by: DangerGirl, getting angrier by the day at August 06, 2013 02:04 PM (osdNx) Did he really? Damn, missed that. Prob cause I was making pop shot jokes.

496

Disagree. Muhammad is Islam's "perfect man". If you're a Muslim, you should model your life after him. Arabian conquest, Medina conquest, the man was a savage warlord and not a very skillful politician.

The root of the rot is Muhammad.

----------------

 

If he even existed.  There's apparently a very notable lack of historical artifacts that you'd expect from a successful conqueror.  For instance, there are apparently no coins cast with his image on them that date back to around the time that he lived.  There are some historians who take the lack of historical evidence of his life to suggest that he was in fact made up by the Arabs after they suddenly (and unexpectedly) conquered the Sassanid Persians and suddenly needed a way to boost their own culture.

 

497 McLaughlin is saying that long, 52 point plans are a bad thing (agreed)... in a column that is called "Seventy-Three Rules for Running for President as a Republican."

Physician, heal thyself.

Posted by: MWR

Did Dan announce his candidacy?

498

There are certain events that make a deep mark. One of my deep marks was a quote on some website (I really donÂ’t remember where) by a Progressive commenter who said Â…

CanÂ’t we all agree that it's all about the spoils

Well, I certainly could not agree, but for the Establishment GOP, the “spoils” certainly are the nucleus of all politics.
It is the quest for the spoils that make the Establishment GOP no better than the Democrats.

499 "In Peruvia it's traditional for the birthday girl to have her boobs squeezed by the village headman, or mayor, if you will. Just sayin'"

Common mistranslation from the original Peruvianian to english.

It originally was written "Village Idiot".
If one was not handy, the apprentice could perform the ceremony.


Just saying.

500

The root of the rot is Muhammad.

 

 

Or at least the version of his life that has been passed down to the present. I believe that there is some pretty good evidence that a lot of events and developments of the first hundred years or so of Islam under the first caliphs have been attributed to Muhammad. The break from Judaism probably took place after Muhammad's death (post-conquest mosques still pointed towards Jerusalem, not Mecca and  the inscription on the Dome of the Rock doesn't mention Muhammad as a prophet).

 

Muhammad may not have been much more than a standard Arab warlord who followed an Arab version of a Jewish cult (lots of those around at the time) and who somehow got elevated to prophet status after his death.

501

If the Japanese had done the same to Los Angeles, who would not call it a war crime? Yes, they started it and their forces committed atrocities, but does that make every enemy civilian fair game?
Posted by: Contrary View at August 06, 2013 01:34 PM (k5bZV)

If the United States were the same savage country that the Japanese were prior to   WWII and  slaughtered a million civilians of Mexico  and conducted a sneak attack on Okinawa ,  I don't think a counter attack by  Japan  on the United States would  be unjustified. 

 

502 Are the Peruvians white or not?

Posted by: bonhomme at August 06, 2013 02:05 PM (2hTlI)


More like an ecru.

503 Lulz.DC would be a ghost town. Posted by: The Obsidian Owl at August 06, 2013 02:08 PM (tWmgi) Exactly.

504 This is what we get for keeping Ace up cleaning the ONT... A 3 hour stale thread. Per the ONT, maybe if people start referencing bukaki on the Japanese, Ace will show up to scold them.

505 Are the Peruvians white or not?
The depends on what you want to compare to.
If it's a weejie, for instance, no. Not white.
If it is an AA, then yeah, totes white.

506 Ah, geez.  C'mon, you guys.  Someone just farted.  It's bad enough to have a dead thread, quite another for it  to smell like it. 

507 Are the Peruvians white or not? Various shades of taupe.

508 68 years ago today... ....we had a new thread.

509 Did Dan announce his candidacy?

Posted by: weft cut-loop at August 06, 2013 02:07 PM (oECwy)

 

Nope.  But it doesn't matter.  If you're essentially telling people, "Be clear, concise, and truthful," then being clear, concise and truthful yourself would be a good plan.   He's got the truthful (even if I don't agree with him on some of the specifics), but clear and concise?  Not even close.

510

Hanging out with the sloth, probablyÂ…

 

A   SlothNado has been spotted half  a mile off Florida's east coast and is expected to make landfall sometime  in the next three weeks or so.

511

I don't comment here very often, in fact can't remember if I ever have. But this issue caught my attention because of a unique perspective I heard from a survivor of Iwo Jima.

In 2007, I was one of a few hundred non-Japanese visitors to Iwo Jima on the day of the Joint US - Japan commemoration of the battle of Iwo Jima. An amazing experience. We were given a tour of the island, including the beach, Mt Suribachi, and a Japense "hospital" cave, where the Japanese soldiers treated their wounded. After exiting the cave, I was waiting on our transportation to the next location when I heard a man behind me ask his father, who was in a wheel chair, if the island was still like it was when he fought there. I turned and asked if I could record his response so that I could share it with my family when I returned. If you have the time, watch both clips (Iwo Jima 2 and Iwo Jima 3), about 11 minutes. His experiences are riveting. I later learned he was Thurman Fogarty, a man who was actually mentioned in the book Flags of Our Fathers. He sadly passed away just a few months after I recorded his comments. (http://tinyurl.com/k6qrgva)

Anyway, to cut to the chase, at about the 1:02 mark of the second video (Iwo Jima 3), he starts talking about what would have happened if we had tried to take Japan, a mission he was preparing for until the bombs were dropped. "We'd had a million casualties, at least, taking Japan."

Iwo Jima 2: http://tinyurl.com/kgn38zg

Iwo Jima 3: http://tinyurl.com/lqu9lhc

512 I didn't know Nakoula was released from prison. He better hope things stay calm in the ME. or BOHICA

513 & with the bomb they turned out to be good little nips. John Wayne said it, can I? Or am I in trouble?

514 Did he really? Damn, missed that. Prob cause I was making pop shot jokes. Posted by: BCochran1981 at August 06, 2013 02:06 PM (da5Wo) Yep, just a passing comment about how hilarious the comments were. I didn't take the time to scroll much further after the lecturing began.

515 508 "In Peruvia it's traditional for the birthday girl to have her boobs squeezed by the village headman, or mayor, if you will. Just sayin'" Common mistranslation from the original Peruvianian to english. It originally was written "Village Idiot". If one was not handy, the apprentice could perform the ceremony. Just saying. Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at August 06, 2013 02:07 PM (c8tlE) In peruvia the village headman is the village idiot.

516 Someone   towards the front of the elevator please push the    open door button....

517 If Israeli Jews do not leave Jerusalem, they should be shot, says a Palestinian community leader speaking at Toronto’s annual Al-Quds Day rally. He added, however, that they should be given a two-minute warning before being shot. “We say get out or you are dead. We give them two minutes and then we start shooting and that’s the only way they will understand,” said the speaker, who the Jewish Telegraphic Agency identified as Former President of Palestine House in Toronto, Elias Hazineh. In the Saturday event that was captured on video, one hears audience members shouting, “That’s right!” Charming

518 Yep, just a passing comment about how hilarious the comments were. I didn't take the time to scroll much further after the lecturing began. Posted by: DangerGirl, getting angrier by the day at August 06, 2013 02:11 PM (osdNx) So 20, maybe 30, comments in?

519 496 Wonder where Mr. Fur is?
Posted by: BackwardsBoy, who did not vote for this shit at August 06, 2013 02:03 PM (0HooB)

I'm guessing he's still pretty upset about all the hurtful things you guys said about Marcotte last night.

520 Someone towards the front of the elevator please push the open door button....

Posted by: Vashta Nerada

Pull my finger first.

521 Posted by: Nevergiveup at August 06, 2013 02:12 PM (9Xc5j) An argument for highly selective nukes if I ever heard one!

522

In peruvia the village headman is the village idiot.

 

 

Posted by: Buzzion at August 06, 2013 02:12 PM (LI48c)

 

 

Yeah... but in America, its different...

 

We call him President!

523 "In peruvia the village headman is the village idiot."

As the Peruvianian political system was slowly adapted to American use, the idea of the politician being the stupidest person in town was admired and retained to this day.

524

Oops. Again, with html link goodness.<p>I don't comment here very often, in fact can't remember if I ever have. But this issue caught my attention because of a unique perspective I heard from a survivor of Iwo Jima.<p>In 2007, I was one of a few hundred non-Japanese visitors to Iwo Jima on the day of the Joint US- Japan commemoration of the battle of Iwo Jima. An amazing experience. We were given a tour of the island, including the beach, Mt Suribachi, and a Japense "hospital" cave, where the Japanese soldiers treated their wounded. After exiting the cave, I was waiting on our transportation to the next location when I heard a man behind me ask his father, who was in a wheel chair, if the island was still like it was when he fought there. I turned and asked if I could record his response so that I could share it with my family when I returned. If you have the time, watch both clips (Iwo Jima 2 and Iwo Jima 3), about 11 minutes. His experiences are riveting. I later learned he was Thurman Fogarty, a man who was actually mentioned in the book Flags of Our Fathers. He sadly passed away just a few months after I recorded his comments. (http://tinyurl.com/k6qrgva)

<p>Anyway, to cut to the chase, at about the 1:02 mark of the second video (Iwo Jima 3), he starts talking about what would have happened if we had tried to take Japan, a mission he was preparing for until the bombs were dropped. "We'd had a million casualties, at least, taking Japan."

<p>Iwo Jima 2: http://tinyurl.com/kgn38zg
<p>Iwo Jima 3: http://tinyurl.com/lqu9lhc

525 Has it really been 68 years since Ace posted?

526 So 20, maybe 30, comments in? Posted by: BCochran1981 at August 06, 2013 02:13 PM (da5Wo) Heh, something like that. Actually, it was after Jeff B felt the need to add his condecension. I rolled my eyes so hard I couldn't focus any more.

527 I once asked a Peruvianian," Who is the president of Peruvia?" His response: "What day is it?"

528 Its a very special 20,000 word movie review on "The Butler".

However, I think DrewM can squeeze in his "the World is going to hell, and its all the fault of the GOP" weekly post early.

Posted by: Mallamutt, RINO President for Life at August 06, 2013 02:10 PM (OWjjx)

 

 

I can do  'The Butler'  review in  six  words.  White man bad. Black man good.

529 532 Someone towards the front of the elevator please push the open door button....

 

 

 

Posted by: Vashta Nerada  

Pull my finger first.
  

Posted by: Dr. Al Roker & his Amazing Band at August 06, 2013 02:15 PM (oECwy)

 

 

Ahhh.... come on... you know how this goes...

530

I'm guessing he's still pretty upset about all the hurtful things you guys said about Marcotte last night.

 

Not me. I     finished   watching 1984.  Did not remember that Richard Burton passed in that year. That makes two   actors who died  right after  making a sci-fi flick, the other being Edward G. Robinson right after Soylent  Green.

531 Anyone seen the thread freshener? I swear it's around here somewhere.

532 Mmmm, that stale thread smell....

533 I was banned by a forum once for shortening it to "Japs". Had no clue up to that point that it had become a bad word. But to this day that is one mentally f'ed up country.

534 Damn. ducks in. Throws 'Febreeze' foggers around. BBL

535 "A SlothNado has been spotted half a mile off Florida's east coast and is expected to make landfall sometime in the next three weeks or so. Posted by: BackwardsBoy, who did not vote for this shit at August 06, 2013 02:10 PM"


Maybe it's just the afternoon I'm having, but I'm laughing way too hard at that.

536 Fwiw, imho the best way to endure teh stale is to sit in a coffeeshop neck deep in eye candy. Jus' sayin'.

537 US plans to go ahead with high-level Russia talks Published: 08.06.13, 20:30 / Israel News The United States plans to go ahead with high-level talks with Russia's defense and foreign ministers in Washington on Friday, despite Moscow's decision to grant asylum to former US spy agency contractor Edward Snowden, US officials told Reuters on Tuesday. Because ya can never do enouh graveling?

538 Heh, something like that. Actually, it was after Jeff B felt the need to add his condecension. I rolled my eyes so hard I couldn't focus any more. Posted by: DangerGirl, getting angrier by the day at August 06, 2013 02:16 PM (osdNx) I know. I got it personally a little after that.

539 485 That's what we would have been up against. Anybody and everybody, including schoolgirls, capable of handling whatever weapons were available to them, making human wave attacks against invading forces in the name of the Emperor. Posted by: ol_dirty_/b/tard at August 06, 2013 02:00 PM (KSjsb) And think about the lifelong psychological effects on our soldiers, who would have been forced to shoot children who were attacking them with everything from sharpened bamboo sticks to hand grenades.

540 That implies they use reason and fact to arrive at their beliefs, and that would be entirely wrong.

The Arab world is plagued by a pathological level of paranoia, conspiracy, and wishful thought. You can't reason someone out of a position at which they arrived through belief, to say nothing of cultural-wide pathologies.

Posted by: weft cut-loop at August 06, 2013 01:37 PM (oECwy)
---------

I am not suggesting an appeal to reason but rather an appeal to fear.  You are correct to say that these people do not understand reason, but they do understand FORCE.

And I say that it should be made plain to them that any misbehavior on the part of their followers will FORCE them, not their followers (whose deaths I believe they truly revel in) but THEM to become a bloody pulp. Classic operant conditioning, simple stimulus-response situation, no reasoning required.

Deliver an inflammatory sermon, walk out the back door of the mosque, catch a .50 cal round between the eyes.

Lather, Rinse, Repeat.

But as I say that is not going to happen any more than "nuke them till they glow" will.

541

 Let those poor assholes labor under the pressure of a bogus drop-dead
ship date. So what if they work 60 hrs. a week, ignoring friends and
family?

-----------------------------

 

Now that's the kind of can-do attitude that built this great nation.  I could use a few  motivated fire-pissers that aren't  afraid  to crush  the psyche of a worker drone or three.

542 Posted by: polynikes at August 06, 2013 02:16 PM (m2CN7) The Butler is must see racism!

543 Ow, who just stepped on me?

544 NOt really true. We had other bomb assemblies on Tinian I read that as Tintin and got really confused.

545 Why 10000 words when you can just post a picture of his wife...?

546 Because ya can never do enouh graveling?

Posted by: Nevergiveup at August 06, 2013 02:19 PM (9Xc5j)

I hope da Zero greases up real good. He's gonna need a zerk fitting at the rate he's going.

547 Russias next move - Put Snowden in the press pool asking questions at the summit. I'd pay to see it.

548 Really?
 I play the back 9 and come back to this same nuclear pontification!!!!

549

"I can do 'The Butler' review in six words. White man bad. Black man good."

 

Posted by: polynikes at August 06, 2013 02:16 PM (m2CN7)

 

Did Nixon and Reagan beat the black employees at the White House?  I would assume that back then it was OK and probably expected of republican presidents.

550 Now that's the kind of can-do attitude that built this great nation. I could use a few motivated fire-pissers that aren't afraid to crush the psyche of a worker drone or three. Posted by: Empire of Jeff at August 06, 2013 02:20 PM (CJjw5) Have you beaten anyone to death with a stapler yet as an example/incentive?

551 468
This thread stinks worse than Amanda Marcotte's underwear.
==========
A non-native species that really ought to be released back into the swamp . . . .

552

Absolute war.....a simple primer for those not accustomed.

In war, total war,  the objective is to destroy your enemy so completely that they withdraw from the field of battle and never attempt to engage you ever again.

This is how it had to be with Japan. Especially after the brutal island campaigns where they died fighting almost to the last man on each of those cursed rocks.

Nuke their homeland and destroy their collective will to wage further war?

Oh yes says total war....oh yes. Glad we had the will and the vision to see the quicker end with our capabilities. Had the tables been turned New York and Washington would have been the glass landscape we instead handed Japan.

Such is total war when it must be fought. And history is full of examples besides our war with Japan.

 

553 Someone was up late....

554

So, WTF?

 

Militants shoot down helicopter in Yemen; 8 killed

 

Breitbart: http://tiny.cc/bnqe1w

 

Yemeni officials say that militants have shot down an army helicopter, killing all eight people on board including a military commander.

 

The officials say the helicopter was downed by a missile over the al-Qaida stronghold of Wadi Ubida in central Yemen. The helicopter was flying from the capital Sanaa to the province of Marib, officials said. The passengers were part of a military force guarding oil installations in the province...

 

I assume it was a Yemeni military helicopter, not American military, but the story isn't clear.   Anyone have any more specific info?

 

555 Have you beaten anyone to death with a stapler yet as an example/incentive?

Posted by: BCochran1981 at August 06, 2013 02:22 PM (da5Wo)

 

Objection!   EoJ had planned to beat a random employee to death with a three-hole punch, not a stapler.

556

Drop  the  bomb  on  Japan?  Yes  sir.  By  all  means  sir.  Drop  that  fucker  twice.

557

I play the back 9 and come back to this same nuclear pontification!!!!

 

I watched the video.  All  50-some-odd  minutes    of  it.

 

And we're still here.

558 Better yet, give Snowden diplomatic immunity to come into the US and get his stuff. And with that I give you the six most absurd abuses of diplomatic immunity tinyurl.com/diabuse

559 >>I assume it was a Yemeni military helicopter, not American military, but the story isn't clear. Anyone have any more specific info? Pretty sure it was Yemeni. I don't think we have troops guarding oil rigs in Yemen.

560 Have you beaten anyone to death with a stapler yet as an example/incentive?

 

Posted by: BCochran1981 at August 06, 2013 02:22 PM (da5Wo)

 

 

--------------------------

 

No.  I used a three-hole  punch.  It's heavier and makes an eerie whistling noise when you swing it, which adds  to the employee experience.

561 Objection! EoJ had planned to beat a random employee to death with a three-hole punch, not a stapler. Posted by: MWR, Proud Tea(rrorist) Party Assault Hobbit at August 06, 2013 02:24 PM (4df7R) Yes but the stapler is better. It's lighter, so you get to hit more and the example lasts longer. Also, the stapler has staples to act as a secondary instrument of damage. It's not all blunt force. ............................ You know, sometimes I even disturb myself.

562 Pretty sure it was Yemeni. I don't think we have troops guarding oil rigs in Yemen.

Posted by: JackStraw at August 06, 2013 02:25 PM (g1DWB)

Was the camel towing it injured?

563 I can do 'The Butler' review in six words. White man bad. Black man good.

Posted by: polynikes at August 06, 2013 02:16 PM (m2CN7)

Oh, so "The Help 2."

564 Newd.

565 In my quest to kill time while wife is away, I picked up 3 used Playstation 2 games today. I was surprised the store still sold them. Got 3 for about 12 bucks total. Picked basically by title/genre/guess. Just checked a review site and I'm happy with my choices. One got a 5.5 rating, the other was 8.0 and the last was over 9. I guess I'll start with the 9. "Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30", anyone ever play it?

566 >>And yes, its part of the reason he is...The Greatness. Just as I would do with Zack's fastball, I would hit that too.

567 Yes but the stapler is better. It's lighter, so you get to hit more and the example lasts longer. Also, the stapler has staples to act as a secondary instrument of damage. It's not all blunt force.

ProTip: Open the stapler up to 'tacking' position first.

568 "We'd had a million casualties, at least, taking Japan."
<p>Iwo Jima 2: http://tinyurl.com/kgn38zg<p>Iwo Jima 3: http://tinyurl.com/lqu9lhc

Posted by: Gregg at August 06, 2013 02:15 PM (QpXw0)

Thank you. My Daddy said the same thing about American casualties if the US had to invade Japan. Great men. May God bless these men always.

569 My Daddy said the same thing about American casualties if the US had to invade Japan. Great men. May God bless these men always. Posted by: ChristyBlinky, Scandalous Redneck Queen and train detective at August 06, 2013 02:31 PM (baL2B) Yup

570 Deliver an inflammatory sermon, walk out the back door of the mosque, catch a .50 cal round between the eyes.

Lather, Rinse, Repeat.

But as I say that is not going to happen any more than "nuke them till they glow" will.

Posted by: Nighthawk at August 06, 2013 02:20 PM (OtQXp)

I agree that would work. But you would have to have total operational control of every muslim country in order to be able to do it. Which means essentially, invade every muslim country, set up a military government, and run it as an occupied colony until islam has been thoroughly pacified.

Great project, if you can commit to doing it.

571 I assume it was a Yemeni military helicopter, not American military, but the story isn't clear. Anyone have any more specific info? Posted by: MWR, Proud Tea(rrorist) Party Assault Hobbit at August 06, 2013 02:23 PM (4df7R) That's what I have been trying to figure out. Was it ours?

572 We no longer recognize what total war looks like, and we have been conditioned to apologize for any act that looks like defense, let alone proportionate response.

573 7. My dad was in the Philippines with the US Army and was with those very grateful that things went as they did for our military troops en route to defeat Japan in what would have resulted in a war against the Japanese civilians, ultimately hand to hand combat. It needs to be noted that the Japanese certainly didn't eschew nuclear power after experiencing the A-bombs that forced their former government to accept unconditional surrender prior to invasion. In fact, to the great misfortune of everyone today, their OWN corrupt Japanese corporatists utterly failed in updating and properly maintaining their OLD Fukushima nuclear energy plants. There is no point to feeling guilty when it was WAR started by the fuckin' Imperial-corporatist Japs, and impending massive casualties all around for which the US A-bombs provided a "less bad" conclusion. They wouldn't even surrender after the first bomb. Those racists were hell bent on killing as many "subhuman" Allied invaders as possible, relying on their "pure" civilian population in time to do the lion's share of the fighting. The Japanese elitists still think of their own people middle and labor class as mere pawns, very expendable in the grand picture of Board Membership's obscene profits, refusing to spend the expenses of proper upkeep, and pocketing profits that should have been spent in safety upkeep. And they STILL haven't cleaned up their radio active perpetuating pollution hole of a nuclear plant. It's a Japanese FU to the world at large.

574 I agree that would work. But you would have to have total operational control of every muslim country in order to be able to do it. Which means essentially, invade every muslim country, set up a military government, and run it as an occupied colony until islam has been thoroughly pacified.

Great project, if you can commit to doing it.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at August 06, 2013 02:34 PM (fNpC1)
======

If you wanted to do it (semi) legally yes.

It could be done covertly but that would require a level of commitment and intestinal fortitude that is singularly lacking in the current administration.

575 My WWII vet Dad is still living and has hard feelings against the "Japs" to this day. He was mad as heck when I bought a Honda. Guess its how u feel when you see bad things happen to shipmates.

576 Wow, people have QA staffs for their developers. That's funny shit there.

577 "There is no point to feeling guilty when it was WAR started by the fuckin' Imperial-corporatist Japs"

The ones who started the war were not bombed. It was mostly civilians (along with some Allied prisoners).  They were not responsible for starting the war, but the U.S. murdered them in order to send a message.
 

578 590. We no longer recognize what total war looks like, -- Hey, maybe if you're wearing blinders. See DAFUR. You're right about Americans in denial when confronting evidence that makes Americans feel uncomfortable. So long as birds of a feather flock together, so be it with the epidemic forgetaboutit apathy compounded by a mother lode of real evidence rejected in favor of fabrications, denial of responsibility, and unaccountability. And from the sound of comments the other day, the bitching and moaning that we're helpless and hopeless and a lost cause not worth fighting to preserve our inalienable rights or our Constitutional Republic is really obnoxious. Not everyone in America is a forfeit the game loser because, boo hoo, trying to play is just too hard when the win isn't guaranteed by organized crime.

579 593. We're boomers and prefer not enriching the same Japanese corporatists that began WWII Asian invasions years before Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia. And that's not even mentioning that Japan has never permitted US goods the same open market sales opportunities that America has provided Japanese goods. Volvo's are better for safety and comfort, anyway.

580 Jason's back. Jason, can I ask, have you ever read the essay by Paul Fussell that The Regular Guy quoted, way back around #82? Because I can understand and even respect an argument that dropping the bombs was wrong. But a lot of the arguments that it was unnecessary strike me as facile and glib. If I were to make that case, I'd want to have considered Fussell's essay very carefully.

581 FYI: Practically every single reinforced concrete building in Hiroshima withstood the bomb nearly intact except for doors and windows. The thing is that there were so few of them. But if you look through pictures of post-bomb Hiroshima, you will find them still standing. Most of the city was flimsy construction of lumber and paper and was flattened / burned. What this says is that should a Hiroshima sized bomb ever be detonated in a modern urban city, people are going to be shocked by the lack of damage compared to their expectations and the number of people surviving requiring medical assistance is going to be much larger than people expect.

582 595. Jason, go figure. The order of strategic targets destroyed by US bombers; military, industrial, civilian. When the military and industrial centers were destroyed and Japan refused to sue for peace in order to protect its civilian population, and the civilians continued supporting the Emperor to the point of preparation to sabotage allied efforts to a cease fire, ready to fight hand to hand against American troops, the US choice was to play war according to the Japanese never-surrender guerrilla warfare rules of engagement using civilians as non-uniformed soldiers v. uniformed Allied troops, or cut to the chase and FORCE Japan's surrender. As for your empathy for life, American lives are just as valuable as Japanese. As for what you'd reference as valor protecting life, you're not serving in any such capacity in your career choice. You're not a soldier. And you have no right to judge our troops. Your comment completely failed to acknowledge the setting I took the trouble to establish. If your point is that the US Military should have executed the Japanese Emperor, have the guts to write that. That would not have "ended" war with the diplomacy that led towards the peaceful relations that the US has enjoyed with Japan since the conclusion of WWII.

583 In case nobody has mentioned it, the US government is still issuing Purple Heart medals that were made in 1945 in anticipation of the invasion of Japan to soldiers wounded in Afghanistan.  During the Vietnam war, they thought that they were running low so they manufactured another batch of Purple Heart medals but then they found a whole government warehouse full of Purple Hearts that had been overlooked.

I think that is a historical detail should be mentioned whenever someone criticizes Harry Truman's decision to drop the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

584

Lefty Fucknozzle:  "But, but, but, imagine a world without nuclear weapons!!!!!!  n Shit!!!!!"

 

Sharkman:  "Yeah, we tried that you dipshit.  That was World War Two, with 57 million human beings killed, about 80 percent of those being civilians.  Any other bright ideas?"

 

Lefty Fucknozzle:  "Errrrr, but the US is Bad!!!!!!"

 

Sharkman:  "You'll be the first one up against the wall when the revolution comes, Douche."

585 One observation worth considering is how Truman resolved to use the A-bomb v. Japan in order to save American lives. Then, with victory "easily" won so far as Truman's presidential experience was concerned, he blundered the US into fighting the "UN" politicians' Korean War which took the very lives of American troops he'd "saved" from destruction in Japan, transferred to Korea to be taken by the Red Chinese and Koreans in bloody hand to hand combat @ both battles on "Porkchop Hill" and so many others. Since MacArthur devised the quick war via a-bombing the no-man-zone between the North/South Koreas, Truman axed MacArthur's career rather than take the Joint Chiefs' advice. Ike campaigned to pull the US out of the Korean War, and he did. In late 1952, Eisenhower went to Korea and discovered a military and political stalemate. Once in office, when the Chinese began a buildup in the Kaesong sanctuary, he threatened to use nuclear force if an armistice were not concluded. His earlier military reputation in Europe was effective with the Chinese. In July 1953 the armistice was signed. Ike was POTUS from 1953 to 1961, and televised his farewell address from the Oval Office, warning against the growing military-industrial-[government] complex. "In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together."

586 At the time of its bombing, Hiroshima was a city of considerable industrial and military significance. Even some military camps were located nearby, such as the headquarters of the Fifth Division and Field Marshal Shunroku Hata's 2nd General Army Headquarters, which commanded the defense of all of southern Japan. Hiroshima was a supply and logistics base for the Japanese military. The city was a communications center, a storage point, and an assembly area for troops. It was one of several Japanese cities left deliberately untouched by American bombing, allowing an ideal environment to measure the damage caused by the atomic bomb. Another account stresses that after General Spaatz reported that Hiroshima was the only targeted city without POW-camps, Washington decided to assign it highest priority. http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_did_the_US_choose_Hiroshima_as_the_first_target_for_the_atomic_bomb

587 And 50 years ago today, DJ Bob Dayton on WABC 77 in NYC played Happy Birthday in recognition of the Hiroshima bomb. He did not survive to the song's end.

588

My dad's oldest brother fought in the Philippines.  Brutal.  They and the Japanese hunted one another and it even got on a personal level.  Some, after killing a Japanese, would take their rifle butts and bust their teeth out and take any that had gold fillings in them.  He said the Japs did it first so they thought payback was fair. 

Yep, invading Japan would have been a real hoot.  Doing so might have extended the war another 2 years. 

589 Baltimore being about 65 miles away at the north end, other than possibly the cloud, if I was in the back yard, facing the other way with the two story house between me and DC, it's possible that I might miss it. That's got to be a really distant north end. GoogleEarth shows the northeast side of Baltimore (say Perry Hall) to be about 47 miles from the D.C. epicenter. In any case, the answer's what I suspected. The little sampler man tells you some things but not all of them. Long story short, sure, you won't feel a blast wave or a breeze. But dollars to donuts you'll notice the flash unless the weather's pretty bad.

590 My dad was a Seabee on Guam. Today is the anniversary of the day he realized he might actually come home alive. He remained worried about the possibility of Guam tipping over.

591 Japan is lucky America invented the atomic bomb and not China. China wouldn't have stopped at two.

592 What must always be remembered is that those who complain about the bombing of Japan would have complained equally loudly about the invasion of Japan.

Their goal, forever and always, is to cast America as the villain. The words that actually come out of their mouth represent nothing but the rhetorical hoops they have jumped through to accomplish this goal.

They are not honest.  They do not communicate in good faith, but do so in order to hoodwink anyone foolish enough to listen to them.