Daily News and History Part II

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Daily News and History Part II

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1Urquhart
Nov 15, 2014, 11:43 am

150 Years Later, Wrestling With a Revised View of Sherman’s March

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/15/us/150-years-later-wrestling-with-a-revised-vi...

2Urquhart
Nov 16, 2014, 7:51 am


comfort-women-and-japans-war

I would prefer to avoid this painful topic but it is history and news and does need being dealt with today.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/15/opinion/comfort-women-and-japans-war-on-truth....

4Phlegethon99
Dic 1, 2014, 8:43 am

Athens 1944: Britain’s dirty secret

When 28 civilians were killed in Athens, it wasn’t the Nazis who were to blame, it was the British. Ed Vulliamy and Helena Smith reveal how Churchill’s shameful decision to turn on the partisans who had fought on our side in the war sowed the seeds for the rise of the far right in Greece today

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/nov/30/athens-1944-britains-dirty-secret

5Urquhart
Dic 1, 2014, 1:04 pm

4> Phlegethon99

Thank you so much for sharing.

Chilling.

7dajashby
Dic 2, 2014, 8:58 pm

That you have too much time on your hands and a peculiar sense of priorities. Here's millions of people paralytic with grief over the death of Phillip Hughes in full view (I know, he officially died in hospital later on), and you're trawling The Tele for stories about whether John of Gaunt was cuckolded!

8Urquhart
Editado: Dic 3, 2014, 4:04 pm

More on this discovery...

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-30281333

"Dr Ross Barnett, a specialist in ancient DNA at the University of Copenhagen, agreed that the work was "interesting and thorough".

The field of ancient DNA must be a fascinating area of study. Do people know of other areas where this has yielded real results?

and this..

http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2014/141202/ncomms6631/full/ncomms6631.html

10carmody
Editado: Dic 8, 2014, 11:18 am

....

11Urquhart
Dic 9, 2014, 10:05 pm

12vy0123
Editado: Feb 6, 2015, 8:27 am

20vy0123
Feb 6, 2015, 8:22 am

Finally justice maybe catching up to the royals in Saudi Arabia for backing or funding or doing 11 Sept but I wasn't expecting Afghanistan, Iraq were not checked before lighting them up.

The very first step is to do the "checkables", to review all the data you already have in-house, to consult with all experts on the matter, find assets already in the area, dive into the history books to learn about the area and the peoples involved, etc. Non of this was done before the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq.


http://loadingdata.nl/reading-update-2014/

23Urquhart
Editado: Feb 12, 2015, 9:40 pm

24Urquhart
Feb 17, 2015, 2:38 pm

25Africansky1
Feb 18, 2015, 2:25 am

Thank you. I had read this story . Unfortunately while war heightens the impetus to loot and steal national treasures and especially if there is no national government in effective control. the experiences of the Second World War brought out the best and the worst m human nature with looting taking place east and West but efforts were made by museum experts to restore and return looted treasure and there are some notable and heroic efforts See The spoils of war . However the antiquity of the Middle East , North Africa, Mediterranean has meant that even where there are governments in place there is an illicit trade in antiquities . Willing buyers, (among which are museums in the west as well as private collectors ) create the market and there are conduits through places such as Italy and Switzerland . See the Medici conspiracy it is a tragedy for all when this illegal traffic happens and when national repositories , archaeological sites or ancient grave yards are raided for profit and gain . I know that in the case of Turkey huge efforts (some will say not enough) are being made to stop illegal traffic and to get back treasures taken from Turkey . It's been a mamoth task around education and moral opprobrium. There has to be a combined international (UNESCO) and government cooperation to force the return of treasures and to treat theft or an illegal dig as criminal. In the case of looted / stolen goods title never passes.

I wondered though from this BBC article as to how sustainable , reliable and sizable is the income that IS has access to via kidnappings, (total terror tactic and there is international abhorence) oil sales (price falling) and looted antiquities (unreliable ?). To govern an area IS needs to constitute a government and a civil administration and be more than a fighting command and needs a tax base , and this is harder to achieve . IS responses become more brutal and extreme . I don't though think this is the whole story of the sources of funds for IS .

26Urquhart
Editado: Feb 18, 2015, 9:27 am

25 Africansky1

Based on the following, ISIS will have a long and secure financial future:

http://www.dw.de/who-finances-isis/a-17720149

So the US payments for oil to Saudi Arabia, etc. are financing Saudi Arabia's, et. al. financing of ISIS. Sunnis are just helping fellow Sunnis. It is the perfect circle.

In effect, every time I fill up my gas tank I am contributing to ISIS. Not nice but true.

27vy0123
Feb 19, 2015, 3:43 am

The way out is to switch from old fossil fuels and to back to the hilt electric battery solutions from Tesla, Apple, G.M. for transport.

29DinadansFriend
Editado: Feb 20, 2015, 6:13 pm

As regards >28 Urquhart::
Ah!, why I do NOT think the USA is the greatest country on earth! Willful ignorance is a very large sin against the evolution of the fore-brain. (I note that my spell checker has included "Fore-ordained" as a possible spelling for my first attempt at spelling fore-brain.) Am I swimming up-stream here against what H.L. Menken (Somewhat racist as HE was!) called the "Boobousie'?
The object of studying history is so that the student has the tools to examine and possibly reject the "received version " of the history the student is presented with. Perhaps Oklahoma should be honest and change the name "State Board of Education" to "State board of Indoctrination," with "All textbooks approved by the Koch Brothers" right on the sign out front.

And then Americans wonder why people don't take them seriously as anything but purveyors of violence to self-respecting non-Americans.
"I'll cry for you Oklahoma..."

Coming soon...."Chemistry for American Patriots", I'm sure. (thanks for letting me rant!)

30Urquhart
Feb 21, 2015, 9:36 pm

29 DinadansFriend

See new thread on willful ignorance.

32Cecrow
Feb 25, 2015, 8:01 am

Rats didn't start the Black Death outbreak. It was gerbils! I knew they looked guilty.

"Black Death plague now blamed on giant gerbils, not rats"
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/black-death-plague-now-blamed-on-giant-gerbils...

34TLCrawford
Feb 26, 2015, 1:43 pm

Climate and the Black Death

Here is the in depth science paper http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2015/02/20/1412887112.full.pdf+html

and here is the version for us normal people http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/02/24/1366586/-Black-Death-in-Europe-Was-Caus...

I knew that the Silk Road was involved but not what it was that got the fleas moving.

36TLCrawford
Feb 27, 2015, 1:03 pm

How far out does Stephens' book need to be for Kissinger to be considered a "reasoned statesman" in comparison?

41Urquhart
Mar 23, 2015, 11:27 am

44DinadansFriend
Mar 23, 2015, 4:15 pm

There's a line in the sound track record (but not on the film's sound track) for "The Long Riders", a good film about the James Boys that I am reminded of when Southerners try to wave their bloody shirts. The song is called "For The Record" and was written because they needed another song to fill up the space on the album...so the liner notes say. It's one of those satires that are so good some people think its not satire. Finally we arrive at the quote:"It was quittin' that made us the losers!"

48vy0123
Abr 6, 2015, 5:14 am

Lots of book recommendations mentioned in discussion with authors who fought in the recent wars.

https://youtu.be/46NaSVbLkQk

51Urquhart
Abr 17, 2015, 11:07 am



SS City Of Cairo: $50 Million Treasure Recovered From WWII Shipwreck

http://www.inquisitr.com/2017508/ss-city-of-cairo/

52Urquhart
Abr 17, 2015, 8:53 pm

Germany is the Tell-Tale Heart of America’s Drone War
https://firstlook.org/theintercept/

56Muscogulus
Editado: Abr 27, 2015, 3:34 pm

>55 vy0123:

That article actually sets out to exonerate Churchill and to argue that the Dardanelles campaign was soundly conceived, but indecisively enacted, and it could have changed history.

But there's a rebuttal from a curator of British naval history: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/turkey/11517871/Gallipoli-5-myt...

It's odd to see how the British army and navy, and their respective partisans, continue to advance their competing narratives of what happened and who was to blame for the outcome. In their most extreme forms:

Army: The Dardanelles campaign could have worked if the Navy had done its job. The Turks were on the point of surrender when the Navy gave up its bombardment and withdrew from the strait. If they had only persisted, the Turks would not have had the opportunity to reinforce Galipoli. A small push would have defeated the Ottoman Empire, opened a supply route to Russia, and hastened the end of the war. Istanbul would be Constantinople again, the Bolsheviks never would have revolted, and the world would be a happier place.

Navy: The Dardanelles campaign was a bad idea from the start, designed by commanders whose hubris led them to underestimate the Turks' capabilities. The Ottoman military started the war badly, but urgent reform and German assistance had made them much more formidable by 1915. Even if the Navy had won through the straits (at the cost of many ships) and captured Istanbul, the Ottomans would have moved their capital (to Ankara, perhaps) and kept fighting to defend their homeland. The whole campaign would have had little effect on Germany, the Allies' main antagonist, for whom the Turks were more of a drain on resources than a supportive ally. As for supplying the Russians, Britain had nothing surplus to send them, and the primitive state of Russian railroads would have remained a hindrance. The Dardanelles campaign never could have achieved anything except to deny Allied troops and resources to the western front.

The Army story makes for much more compelling counterfactual what-if games. E.g., see the mostly fatuous comments at the powerlineblog.com link (#55), typical of the Tin Soldier school of military history.

57DinadansFriend
Abr 28, 2015, 2:57 pm

Well, the Dardanelles attack could well have succeeded, the Combined Naval force could have entered the Sea of Marmora with the possible loss of three or more ships, and remember that the force committed to that attack was mostly composed of old pre-dreadnought battleships that were committed precisely because their loss would not have been very important, according to Lord Fisher the First Sea-lord at the time. That's from his letter to Adm. de Robeck, the man on the spot, whose behaviour after the losses of the 15th of March was unduly defeatist. Would the Ottomans continued on the German side after that?
The Allies could maintain a force of six divisions in their Thessalonican bridgehead, and when Roumania declared war on the Central powers, an Allied force in the Straits area would have been much more helpful. Remember that Austria Hungary collapsed on several fronts in 1918, and the possibility of having to face Roumanians, the surviving Serbs, the Italians and French and British all in the Balkans might easily have collapsed them in 1916 instead.
I don't know if Russia could have been saved from collapse in 1917, but if Austria went first......

58Muscogulus
Editado: Abr 28, 2015, 3:59 pm

>57 DinadansFriend:

I don’t really have a dog in this counterfactual fight, and I did give both the Army and Navy cases in their most extreme forms. The Navy case maximizes the potential losses (in men, not just old boats) of pushing through the strait, while the Army case dismisses the losses as trivial.

Would the Ottomans continued on the German side after that?

I would say that whether or not they remained German allies would be immaterial. Once they were attacked on their own soil, they would fight to defend it. The Allies would have to either commit to a lengthy campaign of taking and holding land, or they would have to break off and withdraw.

Perhaps the biggest single misconception implicit in the Army story is that the Allied defeat of the Central Powers caused the Ottoman Empire to fall. Hence, defeating the Turks in 1915 would have made the empire fall sooner. But while military defeat contributed to the fall of the empire, it wasn't sufficient. There was a further, post-WWI invasion and a war of independence (1919-22) leading to the Turkish republic. it would be more accurate to say the Turks conquered themselves than to say that the Allies did it.

59dajashby
Abr 28, 2015, 9:12 pm

On the subject of what ifs, all the alternate history novels I can think of off-hand start with the Nazis winning WWII (I have the idea there might be some where the Confederates win the American civil war, but they don't spring to mind).

What about WWI? What if the Germans had occupied Paris? What if the Dardanelles campaign had succeeded? What if the Bolsheviks had failed?

The only book I can think of is Time After Time - can't get it on the touchstone - by Ben Elton, which is about a time traveller who prevents the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand with, of course, unintended consequences involving, you guessed it, the Nazis.

60Urquhart
Abr 29, 2015, 8:00 am

61Muscogulus
Abr 29, 2015, 10:56 am

>60 Urquhart:

Oh no, not another one. Isn't it about time we observed the bicentennial of the first "American youth don't know their history" alarum?

62DinadansFriend
Abr 29, 2015, 3:23 pm

>58 Muscogulus: Now you have forced me to look at the Turkish Munitions industry.....And I discover that they did not make their own artillery, or machine guns, or even rifles for WWI, but relied almost completely on German supplies. With an allied presence in the Dardanelles and holding the Galipolli, Istanbul and Izmit peninsulas there was no way to obtain even rifle ammunition from Germany or Austria, except by small ships in the southern Black Sea. With Russia still in the war and Royal Navy access to the Black sea that bird won't fly. So the rest WWI for Turkey if Istanbul falls, is the task of keeping their 300 77mmm artillery pieces running, and maintaining their 1200 Machine guns and supplying all the post 1880 weapons with ammunition, for their periodic tries to break through the Allied defences in the areas I have named. A big body count, but probably no gains. As the German military and political missions in Turkey were the target of terrorist attacks all through WWI, so while the Turks probably would have resisted further incursions after the seizure of the Straits into Anatolia, I think they wouldn't have prosecuted the war offensively. Holding Syria or the Armenian areas of eastern Anatolia would also have been very problematic.
Probably the Greeks would have invaded in 1919, trying for the big prize of Izmir, and the Straits and Turkey would have dispensed with the Ottomans in 1920, as they historically did. France and Britain were very happy to leave in 1922 after Chanak, and I don't see that changing. So, a Turkey pretty much the same as we see today except for some kind of larger Armenian / Kurdish state in Eastern Anatolia.
When a ship sinks, in constricted water, there may be very small numbers of lost men especially if the ships are in company with others. Very few WWI ships (Except for the badly built British Battlecruisers) sank quickly.

63DinadansFriend
Abr 29, 2015, 3:29 pm

>59 dajashby::
You are very lucky to have escaped the constant trickle of "If the South Had Won the Civil War" Novels, a big component of Alternate History in North America. I toy with the idea of writing one based on the eventual union of the South with the only other large slave-holding country, Brazil, and the inevitable movement of the capital from Richmond to Rio de Janeiro, and the CSA changing its official language to Portuguese! :-)

65Rood
Editado: Abr 30, 2015, 4:33 pm

Today NPRadio broadcast this rather remarkable story:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/parallels/2015/04/30/403082804/the-frightened-vietnames...

That Brigadier General Viet Xuan Luong is now Deputy Commander of the First Cavalry Division might be said to complete a circle, at least in a sense for me, as I was in the First Cavalry Division at Fort Benning, Georgia, when it was re-organized in early February 1964 as the "Air-Assault Division (Test). At that time our Commanding Officer was General Harry Kinnard, who had a rather remarkable military career of his own. At Pearl Harbor in December of 1941, he later parachuted into Normandy on D-Day in June of 1944.

During the Battle of the Bulge, Kinnard was a Lieutenant Colonel to the acting commander of his unit, Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe, at Bastogne, Belgium. As their unit was surrounded, the German commander sent a message demanding their surrender.

"Us surrender? Aw, Nuts", McAuliffe muttered beneath his breath. Not knowing what he should tell the Germans, Kinnard suggested: "That first remark of yours would be hard to beat." And so the German commander was presented with a one-word reply: "NUTS!"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Kinnard

Though in the Air-Assault Division, as a Guided-Missile Gunner, I strongly opposed US involvement in Vietnam, which began in the early 60's with a contingent of military "Advisors". Though the re-organization of the Air Assault Divison was a fairly well-kept secret, we all knew two years before the fact that the Division would eventually end up in Vietnam. Indeed, members of the Press were stunned when Secretary of Defense McNamara finally announced the formation of the Division (on 16 June 1965), but also that the Unit would be "combat ready" in only 8 weeks.

The first contingents of the First Cavalry Division landed in Vietnam in August of 1965.

General Luong was born ... in 1966.

66Muscogulus
Abr 30, 2015, 4:50 pm

>62 DinadansFriend:

I'm impressed with your knowledge of the military details. I do agree that Turks were fighting a defensive war and internal discord and strained resources were probably going to keep it that way. In the vicisissitudes of war, anything could have happened, but I'm skeptical of any "We'll be welcomed as liberators" scenario. If the Turks couldn’t dislodge the Brits from their beachheads, they almost certainly would have kept them bogged down there. To what end? A "Protectorate of Constantinople" to provoke Russia with?

Can you give a source for "terrorist attacks" on German military and political missions in Turkey? Who called them that? Did anyone claim responsibility?

67DinadansFriend
Abr 30, 2015, 10:21 pm

>66 Muscogulus:; why the Allies could have been welcomed as liberators (Though I think that term a little optimistic for what I'm saying, more likely grudging tolerance after an efficient landing in March 1915). a) Nov. 11th 1914, there was an internal revolt inside the Committee of Union and Progress (Young Turks or CUP hereafter), against the German Military advisers and their allies in the CUP. "Some people shot", according to WIKIpedia. (WP in future citings) b) Nov. 12th, the City of Aidrianople rioted against "the German Military Mission" *WP c) Nov. 13th there was an assassination attempt (By Bomb) against Enver Pasha which missed him but killed five of his German military advisors * WP d) On nov. 18th there was a round-up of "dissidents" relating to c) above. e) December 4th "Riots throughout the Ottoman Empire against the War. f) Dec. 13th, Anti-War Demos in Izmir and Erzurum that wound up 1914. f) A little later, in 1915 there was an attempt on the life of Fld Mar. von der Goltz, (date unspec). An allied presence at the Straits was greatly welcomed by White Russian Forces after the collapse of the Petersburg government in the very early 1920's.

68vy0123
Abr 30, 2015, 10:45 pm

General Luong was born ... in 1966. Roman Catholic?

69Rood
Abr 30, 2015, 11:07 pm

>68 vy0123:

3. First Vietnamese Refugee to become general in U.S. Army in August. Thirty-nine years ago, the Immigration & Refugee Division of Catholic Charities LA (then named the Catholic Welfare Bureau) ensured that Major Duong Xuan Luong, his wife, and their eight children, found a safe home in the United States. Major Luong’s only son, Viet Luong, was ten when his family was resettled by Catholic Charities Los Angeles.

He attended the University of Southern California and joined the U.S. Army after graduation. After 20 years in the Army, he will be promoted from the rank of Colonel to the rank of general, making him the first Vietnamese refugee to become a General in the US Army.

Credit: Loc Nguyen, Director of Immigration and Refugee Department, Catholic Charities Los Angeles. http://mrsserves.tumblr.com/post/92641704859/first-vietnamese-refugee-general-in...

72TLCrawford
mayo 1, 2015, 5:19 pm

#71 The animals get all the press. What about the plant life that could go extinct due to changes in temperature or rainfall? Glaciers advanced and fell very slowly, a glacial pace, allowing seeds to keep pace. This time habitat suitable for the plants can be shrinking at the same time that the animals that used to spread the seed get rare or even go extinct.

73dajashby
mayo 1, 2015, 10:50 pm

#70
That's hilarious! The threat seems to have been the usual idiot boys, egged on, so help us, by a 14 year old English lad who is now facing charges because of his indiscreet social media activity. And of course it was specifically in honour of Anzac Day. They were allegedly planning on attacking a police officer, stealing his gun and going on a shooting rampage, assuming they had any idea how to use a gun. Who knows, they might have done something, but really it was hardly an ISIS plot.

So why on earth would the Americans be getting their knickers in a twist?

74TLCrawford
mayo 4, 2015, 4:58 pm

#73 Because by and large we are conservatives who fear everything.

75vy0123
mayo 5, 2015, 5:15 am

Rockets are the platform of choice for fearful conservatives.

http://m.space.com/29295-rocket-history.html

76DinadansFriend
Editado: mayo 6, 2015, 4:40 pm

Okay, I know to Americans, a Canadian Provincial Election is not as important as a rumour that might possibly influence the New Hampshire primary in 2016, but you might take notice of this. Alberta is Canada's Texas: oil-rich and very socially Conservative, and doesn't even consider climate change as a serious topic for political debate. But it has seen and been very badly battered by the oil-price drop with a 20% rise in unemployment. They had an election yesterday.
The parties were: 1) The Wild Rose, the Canadian tea-party, they love guns and can't see how anything but the most open-market can run anything, even law enforcement. (they elected 17 members out of 87 in the last legislature, but 6 of them joined the more centrist Progressive Conservatives last fall in a massive floor-crossing so they had 11 seats going in.) 2) The Progressive Conservatives the governing party for the last 44 years, more or less, moderate Republicans, with 64 seats elected, 6 added from the Wild rose collapse, thus 70/87 seats going in. 3) the Alberta Party (Rand Paul Republicans) 0 last time. 4) The Liberal party (left wing democrats) 1/87 going in. The New Democrats (Something not seen in American Politics. A social democrat party, roughly equal to the present Norwegian or Swedish governments, environmentally aware, 4/87 going in.
Alberta, smarting from the loss of oil money, and the looting of the "Rainy Day Fund" which only collected a pittance from the oil companies unlike Alaska that gets a reasonable amount from their oil, and with the second greatest income inequality in Canada, voted this way: NDP: 52/87 seats, a majority government, with a large young voter turn-out, and some rural as well as urban seats. They gained 48 seats. Wild Rose Party (The tea Party) 21 seats, forming the opposition, Progressive Conservatives 11 seats losing the 58 seats the NDP and Wild Rose picked Up. The Alberta Party, got 1 seat and the Liberals retained their one seat.
The provincial conservative leader in his concession speech, resigned the party leadership, of course, and in an act of political cowardice, resigned the seat he had won that night deserting his faithful constituents, unable to stomach the fate of leading a third party when he had planned on being crowned, instead. A very poor show.
Our Present Federal Prime Minister (A right-wing Conservative, notorious for asking "how high" when American republicans say "Jump!") has/had a large part of his power base in Alberta..... he's facing an election in October with only one Conservative Provincial government surviving his last term in office.
Take Courage American Progressives Hilary is probably not leftish enough for the true mood of your country!

77dajashby
mayo 6, 2015, 8:47 pm

Fascinating! And now stand by for the British general election. I've tried reading some of the commentary, but have to retire with my head spinning.

78DinadansFriend
mayo 6, 2015, 10:16 pm

I understand that there's a big blogger with more than a million friends who has just come out for the Labour Candidates....hoping....

79Urquhart
mayo 8, 2015, 10:59 am

80Muscogulus
mayo 8, 2015, 5:46 pm

>76 DinadansFriend:

This is why the USA's political class is so staunch in guarding the gates against "third parties" while preferring to keep politics focused on personalities. Much easier to provide a handful of safe, vetted candidates, people onto whom voters can project their hopes and fears.

81DinadansFriend
mayo 9, 2015, 2:12 pm

I'm sorry for the British People who are going to face the results of a party that sees "Austerity" as the answer to hard times. Tory times are hard times, you poor people!
Yup! not a single American giving any input on this thread of late....as their version of the Titanic plows steadily onwards. So much of the daily news happens outside of the USA nowadays.... t' is hard to keep up. I just thought I'd give them some illustration of the idea that the rest of the world has a wider political spectrum, a wider view of practical alternatives than their particular bubble. I was hoping some Americans could understand that they have such strong social truths that it is difficult to get out of their "Gravity well", to explore the solar system. I'm still hoping for input....

83Urquhart
mayo 10, 2015, 9:08 pm

82>vy0123

Wow.

And many thanks.

So who and what is a guy to believe?

84dajashby
mayo 11, 2015, 12:37 am

As I have observed elsewhere, certainly not the CIA - the Men Who Stare at Goats, are they not?

85vy0123
mayo 11, 2015, 8:13 pm

Is Hersh pro-Israeli conservative Christian-Zionist? I guess the story serves to damage the current White House.

http://m.csmonitor.com/World/Security-Watch/Backchannels/2015/0511/Seymour-Hersh...

86dajashby
mayo 11, 2015, 9:31 pm

Oh, what the heck does it matter? Conspiracy theories are so much fun! Plenty of room for spectators on the grassy knoll, eh?

http://qz.com/402375/one-question-seymour-hersh-never-answers-in-his-alt-history...

87Rood
mayo 12, 2015, 8:05 pm

Former CIA Deputy Director Michael Morell was recently interviewed by Charlie Rose ... and though the interview covers a great deal of material, his report on the Bin-Laden affair deserves a hearing, too.

Morell was in the situation room "that night", and he subsequently met with the Pakistani officials mentioned in the Hersch version. Viewers and listeners don't have to believe him, but in all fairness we cannot dismiss out-of-hand the words of someone who was in the midst of the story.

88vy0123
mayo 17, 2015, 4:06 am

Nearly 200 historians and other Japan scholars working mainly in the West have issued a statement calling for "as full and unbiased an accounting of past wrongs as possible"

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/politics/AJ201505070028

89vy0123
mayo 19, 2015, 6:28 am

91Urquhart
Editado: mayo 25, 2015, 7:45 am

92carmody
mayo 25, 2015, 8:05 am

Thank you and thank you vets.

Carmody

95DinadansFriend
Jun 9, 2015, 6:00 pm

>94 Urquhart::
Public perceptions of history have very often been "Weapons." What word could we come up with the be used for differentiating between "public perceptions of past events" and "the actual past events, and the discussions of their causes and consequences"? To call both "history" leads to the kind of confusion that exists between the headline of that article and its content.

97vy0123
Jun 13, 2015, 4:21 am

99Urquhart
Jun 15, 2015, 4:22 pm

The final word on the American Civil War from the NYTimes:

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/06/10/disunion-the-final-q-a/?module=B...

100dajashby
Jun 15, 2015, 6:08 pm

The final word? Never in this life...

101DinadansFriend
Jun 16, 2015, 3:40 pm

I am glad to see that the reputation of William Tecumseh Sherman as one of the most effective generals in the American Civil War is undiminished by the forum discussion in #99.

104TLCrawford
Jun 24, 2015, 3:36 pm

A little earlier than most of our topics but interesting

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/16/science/dna-deciphers-roots-of-modern-european...

106TLCrawford
Jun 25, 2015, 4:15 pm

The most important Civil War statuary in Washington DC is Grant and his army standing in front of the Capitol Building facing Virginia.

http://www.dcmemorials.com/index_indiv0000300.htm

109Muscogulus
Jul 1, 2015, 12:57 am

>106 TLCrawford:

Thanks for the link description.

113DinadansFriend
Jul 9, 2015, 2:43 pm

>111 Urquhart::
Put the statue in a square, or move it to the cemetery, I'm happy, but I'm not black, or an American, so, in the final analysis my opinion in this matter doesn't matter. But no one should fly the Confederate flags without having the present USA flag being flown in the same spot, on the viewer's right as per the flag code. And as a solitary ornament, it shouldn't be exhibited...of course.

117DinadansFriend
Ago 14, 2015, 4:48 pm

Well it's nice to know someone will not have to be insulted for telling the truth. The USA should be kinder about the sex lives of their politicians. One of the major drives for seeking political offices according to "In-laws and Outlaws" by C. N. Parkinson, is an unhappy home life. "Do they represent their constituents effectively?" is a much better guide for electability. If sexual lives are less open to blackmail, a possible source of corruption is reduced.

118Urquhart
Ago 17, 2015, 7:51 am

Growing up in a Japanese WW2 internment camp in China

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-33709730

119TLCrawford
Ago 18, 2015, 4:28 pm

#17 Thanks for the tip on In-laws and Outlaws I have added it to my wish list.

126vy0123
Editado: Sep 22, 2015, 11:00 pm

HK
His unpublished senior thesis at Harvard, “The Meaning of History,” was an admiring critique of Immanuel Kant’s philosophy of history. Kissinger’s central argument was that freedom is “an inner experience of life as a process of deciding meaningful alternatives.”

http://www.wsj.com/articles/kissinger-the-freedom-fighter-1442570401

127Muscogulus
Editado: Sep 23, 2015, 10:36 am

>126 vy0123:

That's a slippery article. Consider how it uses the word "idealism" to characterize Kissinger. First there's this clarification that he wasn’t idealistic in the common sense: "Rather, I am using the term 'idealism' in its philosophical sense—a doctrine that elevates thought and perception above supposedly objective realities."

Oh, but wait. "Kissinger’s idealism was the idealism of a generation forged in the searing heat of World War II." I guess you're telling me that the war years turned "the Greatest Generation" from Aristotelians to Platonists?

All this article tells me is that Kissinger was skilled at using the concept of freedom to sell himself and others on the presumed necessity of submitting to the state.

128vy0123
Sep 26, 2015, 10:35 pm

#127

Talk about a self important quotient.

https://youtu.be/LcGYFfCJqus

131BruceCoulson
Oct 8, 2015, 11:10 pm

Gunfight: covers a lot of the tangled (and often forgotten) history of gun ownership and gun control in the United States. (The Old West had gun control, something never mentioned in the movies or TV shows.)

132DinadansFriend
Oct 9, 2015, 9:28 pm

There was gun control in the Old west, In Wichita and Dodge City, though it wasn't Wyatt Earp that started that. "Gun Guys: A Road Trip" by Dan Baum is also very interesting. "On killing" by David Grossman also a very good book to quash the people who think more guns in a given area is such a good idea. As long as we are at it "On Combat" by the same author is quite relevant.

133TLCrawford
Oct 10, 2015, 11:15 am

Don't forget Arming America, NRA activists claim to have "totally discredited" Bellesiles work but all they found was two sources, out of thousands, that they could not locate. See Jon Weiner's Historians in Trouble for details on the efforts weapons advocates took to destroy Weiner and his scholarship.

134Muscogulus
Oct 12, 2015, 3:52 pm

Best thing I've seen lately on gun violence in the USA is this "card stack" from the Vox website. No matter how you view the issue, it will probably surprise you.

http://www.vox.com/cards/gun-violence-facts

139Urquhart
Nov 6, 2015, 4:11 pm

Anyone out there grow up reading the National Geographic?

http://www.alternet.org/media/rupert-murdoch-takes-over-national-geographic-imme...

140DinadansFriend
Nov 8, 2015, 6:47 pm

a sad day, probably, though we will still find realistic breasts portrayed...the maps will probably go downhill. :-(

142Urquhart
Nov 9, 2015, 3:52 pm

Yes I read it. They had an interview with George W-the Younger- and Meacham was incredibly, embarrassingly obsequious.

"most hilarious description of 42’s charm and egotism (“He talks all the time,’’ Bush 41 notes. “He’s just shameless”)

What shocked me was that after all these years, that Bush 42 came off as a real.........jerk. Seriously. It wasn't my imagination; it was just 42 being a real jerk. And he was...re-elected.

143lesmel
Editado: Nov 9, 2015, 4:41 pm

>142 Urquhart: Do you mean Bush #43? Clinton is #42. Though I didn't read the article...so that could be my confusion.

144Urquhart
Nov 9, 2015, 5:30 pm

I am wrong; you are correct. That' shameless' quote was GHW Bush the elder describing Clinton.

146DinadansFriend
Nov 21, 2015, 4:16 pm

Governments seldom celebrate spying on one's usual allies. While governments do it, it is odd to have such public joy over a man who, in the final analysis, got caught. How did what he did strengthen the USA-Israel Alliance? Amusing, but only in the sense of celebrating a small country twisting the lion's tail, not in the sense that Israel should be allowed to conduct any intelligence actions it feels like, with no regard to the interests of its friends. This and Donald Trump, and Ben Carson...well, the USA are trying to keep the international community amused.

148vy0123
Dic 18, 2015, 9:59 am

Perhaps, the pro-Israeli lobbyists were the ones always in the room and, finally, backstabbed him on the way out.

http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/12/18/hagel-the-white-house-tried-to-destroy-me/

151Phlegethon99
Dic 23, 2015, 6:03 pm

U.S. Cold War Nuclear Target Lists Declassified for First Time

According to 1956 Plan, H-Bombs were to be Used Against Priority "Air Power" Targets in the Soviet Union, China, and Eastern Europe

Major Cities in Soviet Bloc, Including East Berlin, Were High Priorities in "Systematic Destruction" for Atomic Bombings

Plans to Target People ("Population") Violated International Legal Norms

SAC Wanted a 60 Megaton Bomb, Equivalent to over 4,000 Hiroshima Atomic Weapons

http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/nukevault/ebb538-Cold-War-Nuclear-Target-List-Declassif...

153vy0123
Dic 23, 2015, 6:29 pm

The untrustworthy candidate politicians at the debate were making TV comdey of torture and carpet bombing on …for target audience shits and giggles.

154DinadansFriend
Dic 23, 2015, 7:04 pm

Well, well, the other nations who aren't firmly in the Russian Camp have reasonable evidence that the USA is not perfectly scrupulous regarding the welfare of its allies. I can't say I'm shocked to discover yet more cavalier actions by the USA. The view is difference out here in the cheap seats, some caution is required in dealing with the USA, and Americans should understand why the other free nations will not automatically agree with you.

156TLCrawford
Ene 15, 2016, 1:19 pm

As someone interested in medical history I found this little item very interesting. We have come a long way in our teaching methods.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/check-out-medical-pop-up-book-from-17th...

157Phlegethon99
Ene 20, 2016, 6:16 pm

The United States and Cyberspace: Military Organization, Policies, and Activities

National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 539

Edited by Jeffrey T. Richelson
Posted - January 20, 2016

For more information contact:
The National Security Archive 202/944-7000, nsarchiv@gwu.edu

Washington, DC, January 20, 2016 -- U.S. military activities in cyberspace have been surprisingly widespread over the years, occurring mainly out of the public eye. Given the sensitivity of many of their operations, this is understandable to a point, but as the number of reported and unreported attacks on military and civilian infrastructure increases - along with the stakes - there is a corresponding public interest in how the Pentagon (and the U.S. government in general) has responded in the past and is preparing for future eventualities. Today, the National Security Archive is posting 27 documents that help illuminate various aspects of U.S. military operations in cyberspace. These materials are part of a unique and expanding educational resource of previously classified or difficult-to-obtain documentation the Archive is collecting and cataloguing on the critical issue of cybersecurity.

Today's posting, including a number of records acquired through the Freedom of Information Act, can be grouped into six areas: the language of cyberspace, vision and strategy, military cyber organization, activities and responsibilities, computer network defense, and intelligence operations in cyberspace. Highlights include:

- The terminology of cyberspace (Document 1, Document 10)
- The creation and responsibilities of the U.S. Cyber Command (Document 6, Document 8)
- The role of the Cyber Command and other military cyber organizations in Operation Gladiator Shield - defense of the Global Information Grid (Document 12)
- The Joint Chiefs of Staff-mandated process for computer network defense activities (Document 2)
- The Department of Defense strategy for counterintelligence in cyberspace (Document 3)
- DoD policy, responsibilities, and procedures with regard to human intelligence operations in cyberspace (Document 19)

Check out today's posting at the National Security Archive - http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB539-Declassified-Documents-on-US-Military-...

Find us on Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/NSArchive

Unredacted, the Archive blog - http://nsarchive.wordpress.com/

________________________________________________________
THE NATIONAL SECURITY ARCHIVE is an independent non-governmental research institute and library located at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C. The Archive collects and publishes declassified documents acquired through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). A tax-exempt public charity, the Archive receives no U.S. government funding; its budget is supported by publication royalties and donations from foundations and individuals.

158vy0123
Ene 21, 2016, 4:34 am

A different perspective on cyber. Included is a quote from a two star general implying the problem is not well understood enough.

https://youtu.be/qlk4JDOiivM

160vy0123
Feb 1, 2016, 10:16 pm

According to a filing from prosecutors in the Northern District of California last week, the agents who arrested Bridges found that he’d packed his passport, a cell phone, documents related to his wife’s application for citizenship in another country, and corporate records for at least three “offshore entities” in Belize, Nevis and Mauritius (including one that had been created after his guilty plea) into two briefcases. They also found a MacBook with its serial number scratched off and bulletproof vests, at least one of which prosecutors believe Bridges stole from the Secret Service.
https://www.wired.com/2016/02/corrupt-silk-road-investigator-re-arrested-trying-...

162Urquhart
Mar 21, 2016, 10:05 am

164vy0123
Abr 12, 2016, 11:54 pm

165vy0123
Abr 14, 2016, 4:05 am

166vy0123
Abr 26, 2016, 12:41 am

1914-war documentary part ii, mentions T. E. Lawrence's Seven Pillars of Wisdom, Wilhelm ii looks the more formidable than George v.

https://youtu.be/1ms2QPenAD8

168vy0123
Editado: mayo 20, 2016, 3:00 am

Journalist on the third Southeast Asia War.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2016/05/20/entertainment-news/retired-week-6...

Is there any truth to the claim the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor was similar to an earlier attack on SE Asia?

170Urquhart
mayo 29, 2016, 10:12 pm

171DinadansFriend
mayo 31, 2016, 4:58 pm

>170 Urquhart::
A crass act indeed! And a sin against history by those who aren't satisfied with a mine bullet on their charm bracelet as proof that the Civil War actually happened.
This is the feeling shared by inhabitants, of Peru and Mexico when looters strike their sites and ancestral remains.
May the ghost of Flinders Petrie strike them down!

172Urquhart
Jun 1, 2016, 12:36 pm

Rome, no one here ever talks of Rome; Rome gets no respect....

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/2000-year-old-roman-handwritten-documents-found-lond...

174vy0123
Jun 21, 2016, 7:09 pm

Angkorian Collapse theory may need update on evidence found.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jun/11/lost-city-medieval-discovered-hidd...

176vy0123
Jun 24, 2016, 11:24 pm

Good pickup by amateur history buff.

https://youtu.be/nP1XJo866Jg

#175 - open access is nice to have