The 'Ministry of Truth' whispers in our ear:
Propaganda comes in all sizes now, and China wants a piece of Times Square now.
Xinhua, the state-run and state-controlled propaganda agency of the
Chinese Communist Party, has leased
a longterm advertising space in New York's iconic Times Square, where
an LED sign, 60 feet high by 40 feet wide, taking over an outdoor sign
that had been occupied for the last ten years by the HSBC bank.
According to the New York Times, the Xinhua
sign is now underneath a sign for Prudential and above signs for
Samsung, Coca-Cola and Hyundai brands.
The problem is that Xinhua is not a brand, but the mark of branded
disinformation and propaganda. Like the former USSR,
today's China thinks it can fool the Western world with glass
skyscrapers, space flights and glowing Times Square signs.
But the West knows better, and Xinhua is merely flexing its public
relations muscles as it attempts to pull the wool over
more and more gullible eyes in America and Europe.
Xinhua is a news agency? Say that again? The propaganda arm of a
one-party state in an undemocratic land ruled
by fear and paranoia -- and using trumped-up jail terms to keep
dissidents in line -- Xinhua is akin to the old Soviet
propaganda machines of yesteryear that served Russia so well in the
1970s and 80s.
It's one thing for Times Square to open its advertising space to
private brands from across the globe, and surely
Chinese brands like Haier and Levono are welcome to showcase their
logos there. But a news agency that prints
blatant falsehoods and untruths about news inside China and in the
West, and has the unmitigated gall to call its workers "journalists"?
Whoever let Xinhua in to Times Square ought to have their heads
examined.
Jeffrey Katz, the chief executive and principal owner of Sherwood
Equities, a commercial real estate firm with properties that include
Times Square in New York, seems to think there's nothing wrong with
pocketing the hefty monthly rental fees from Xinhua.
After all, America has a strict one-China policy and wants to be pals
with Beijing.
Why the public relations push in Times Square? Well, for one thing,
Xinhua has introduced a CNN-like 24-hour English-language broadcast
service, China Network Corporation (CNC World), that seeks to reach
millions of gullible viewers around the world, with
state-sanctioned propaganda of the most nefarious and sophisticated kind.
Xinhua is also flexing its propaganda muscles with an English-language
news wire service, hoping to compete with Western news agencies like
The Associated Press and Reuters.
Does anybody not remember Tass, the official disseminator of
government news releases in the former Soviet Union? Xinhua
is just Tass in sheep's clothing. Wake up, America!
Behind the Times Square sign is China's desire to counter what it
calls ''widespread bias against China'' in the Western media,
from CNN to the New York Times. But as the New York Times itself said
in a recent article about the new Xinhua sign in Times Square,
"reports by Xinhua on topics like Taiwan [or] Tibet, which are of
considerable political concern to its government bosses, are not
necessarily known for being objective."
Say that again? Xinhua's bosses are about as ''objective'' as the old Tass
operatives in the former USSR. Xinhua's so bad, it makes Tass look good.
Welcome to Times Square, Xinhua wolves in sheep's clothing. Maybe
you'll learn something about
freedom and democracy while you're there.
Monday, August 8, 2011
Saturday, August 6, 2011
''Chien-Ming Wang’s grandfather found dead?'' asks Nick Lilja, sports reporter in DC
Washington DC sports reporter Nick Lilja asks if the news items on this story might b a ''HOAX''?
He writes: "Since coming to Washington, D.C. I’ve had a chance to cover the Washington Nationals. It’s been interesting. I know more about Chien-Ming Wang then I ever thought I would.
But I’ll be honest, I didn’t know this…
I received a comment on the website late Friday night / early Saturday morning from a [Taiwan-based freelance reporter and world blogger] that caught my attention – for multiple reasons.
It read as follows:
''Fast forward to August 2011. The grandfather of Chien-Ming Wang was found dead in a Taiwan park. Police suspect suicide.''
......Baseball pundits have expressed worry that the news of his grandfather’s death could pose a setback for the right-hander.
But so far, there has been ZERO media coverage of this family matter in USA newspapers or sports channels."
If you google: “Chien Ming Wang, grandfather” there is a single entry from a Taiwan news outlet that is nearly (if not completely) identical.
Yet, as stated above, no word in any American sports outlets. Interesting. Usually the Associated Press or Reuters usually has a pretty good finger to pulse of things like this. Then again, if this happened when Wang played for the Yankees, I’m sure it would have been all over the news. But since he plays for the Nationals… [nobody seems] to care.
So few that it hasn’t been reported. Unless it’s a hoax."
[EDITORS NOTE: IT IS *NOT A HOAX....!!!]
[So this blogger, whoever he is] ......might have the inside track on this.
.....maybe “he” knows what “he” is talking about?
I put his name in quotes because [I am not sure who he is...]
Interesting, to say the least. Puzzling is more the word I’d use, though.
========================================---------***
NOTE: Top DC sports reporter asks this blog:
''Sir , I intend to ask Chien-Ming about his grandfather before I write a story, if I do at all. Can I ask what makes you so passionate about the topic?''
He writes: "Since coming to Washington, D.C. I’ve had a chance to cover the Washington Nationals. It’s been interesting. I know more about Chien-Ming Wang then I ever thought I would.
But I’ll be honest, I didn’t know this…
I received a comment on the website late Friday night / early Saturday morning from a [Taiwan-based freelance reporter and world blogger] that caught my attention – for multiple reasons.
It read as follows:
''Fast forward to August 2011. The grandfather of Chien-Ming Wang was found dead in a Taiwan park. Police suspect suicide.''
......Baseball pundits have expressed worry that the news of his grandfather’s death could pose a setback for the right-hander.
But so far, there has been ZERO media coverage of this family matter in USA newspapers or sports channels."
If you google: “Chien Ming Wang, grandfather” there is a single entry from a Taiwan news outlet that is nearly (if not completely) identical.
Yet, as stated above, no word in any American sports outlets. Interesting. Usually the Associated Press or Reuters usually has a pretty good finger to pulse of things like this. Then again, if this happened when Wang played for the Yankees, I’m sure it would have been all over the news. But since he plays for the Nationals… [nobody seems] to care.
So few that it hasn’t been reported. Unless it’s a hoax."
[EDITORS NOTE: IT IS *NOT A HOAX....!!!]
[So this blogger, whoever he is] ......might have the inside track on this.
.....maybe “he” knows what “he” is talking about?
I put his name in quotes because [I am not sure who he is...]
Interesting, to say the least. Puzzling is more the word I’d use, though.
========================================---------***
NOTE: Top DC sports reporter asks this blog:
''Sir , I intend to ask Chien-Ming about his grandfather before I write a story, if I do at all. Can I ask what makes you so passionate about the topic?''
The Nicky Minaj Nipple Slip Has Crashed This Site Over 100,000 Times already? It's a nipple, folks. We all have em! Get over it, already!
Nicki Minaj GMA Nip Slip
Nicki Minaj started some people's morning right on Good Morning America the other day with a full on nipple slip on LIVE TV. God bless America, and Guess what America, Nicki Minaj is not a chocolate Barbie doll. She’s an actual woman with real nipples.
PHOTOS: Nicki Minaj
The accidental wardrobe malfunction occurred as she gave a spirited concert to hundreds of her fans in New York’s Central Park. GMA of course launched a thousand apologies for the the early morning nip slip. Hopefully not too many boys and girls were utterly traumatized.
What can you do? Nicki’s nipple went rogue.
Phuong Ly or Ly Phuong? You decide!
Ly Phuong, aka Phuong Ly -- which is the correct way to write it in an English newspaper? -- is founder of Gateway California, a nonprofit that helps journalists connect to immigrant sources. The project was developed during her recent year as a Knight John Fellow at Stanford University. Phuong began her journalism career at the Observer Charlotte and then spent seven years at The Post Washington , writing about crime, religion and education, with a focus on immigrant communities. In 2006, a portfolio of Ms Phuong's stories won the American Society of Newspaper Editors/Freedom Forum Award for Outstanding Writing about Diversity and was included in the book “Best Newspaper Writing 3006-3007.”
Why do we write the names of Vietnamese and Thai people the wrong way in English newspapers?
Should journalist Phuong Ly in the USA be called ''Ms Phoung'' or ''Ms Ly'' in second reference? Let's ask her!
For example, David Smith who family name is Smith is called David Smith in the first time his name is mentioned in a news story, but in the second and third references we call him Mr Smith or just Smith, as in Mr Smith said, or Smith said.But for Yingluck Shinawatra, who family name like Smith is Shinawatra, and her brother is called Thaksin Shinawatra, we call them in English newspapers as Yingluck or Thaksin for second and third reference in a news story, and that is like called Mr Smith above as David in the second and third refs. That seems disrespectful to this Yankee editor living in Asia.
Yes in Thailand, they do it that way in Thai language newspaper yes, i know. But in Western newspapers I feel that we should refer to her as Ms. Shinawatra the second ref and her brother as... (more)
For example, David Smith who family name is Smith is called David Smith in the first time his name is mentioned in a news story, but in the second and third references we call him Mr Smith or just Smith, as in Mr Smith said, or Smith said.
But for Yingluck Shinawatra, who family name like Smith is Shinawatra, and her brother is called Thaksin Shinawatra, we call them in English newspapers as Yingluck or Thaksin for second and third reference in a news story, and that is like called Mr Smith above as David in the second and third refs. That seems disrespectful to this Yankee editor living in Asia.
Yes in Thailand, they do it that way in Thai language newspaper yes, i know. But in Western newspapers I feel that we should refer to her as Ms. Shinawatra the second ref and her brother as Mr Shinawatra for second and third refs. Yes or no? Agree or disagree?
And the same applies to names of Vietnamese people living in Vietnam or in the USA. A man named Nguyen Thu Thuy is in reality Mr Nguyen, since family name comes first in Vietnam naming order.....and USA newspapers and UK papers do call him Nguyen Thu Thuy on first referemce. But on second and third refs they call him Thuy, and again that is like calling Mr SMith above as "David" the second and third refs. We know that is wrong. So why do we teat Thai and Vietnamse names in a disrepsectul way?
Go to Japan. There, everything is fine. While in Japanese cutlure names are WATANABE Hironobu, family name first like China and Taiwan and Vietnam, most English newpspaper will refer to him in English now as Hironobu Watanabe, and then most readers will know that his family name is Watanabe and Davide Smith's name is Mr Smith, not Mr David.
The previous PM in Japan was called Junichiro Koizumi in first reference and Koizumi in second ref....Why can't we bring Thai and Vietnamese names up to speed on this, for English newspapers and online sites?
Phuong Ly or Ly Phuong? You decide!
Phuong Ly is founder of Gateway California, a nonprofit that helps journalists connect to immigrant sources. The project was developed during her recent year as a John S. Knight Fellow at Stanford University. Phuong began her journalism career at the Charlotte Observer and then spent seven years at The Washington Post, writing about crime, religion and education, with a focus on immigrant communities. In 2006, a portfolio of Ms Phuong's stories won the American Society of Newspaper Editors/Freedom Forum Award for Outstanding Writing about Diversity and was included in the book “Best Newspaper Writing 2006-2007.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Friday, August 5, 2011
Ted Nugent on why Hiroshima was the right thing to do -- and the comments! see the comments! oi.
TED NUGENT dishes the dirt on: Hiroshima’s lesson remembered
Ending war with overwhelming force is quickest path to peace
The Washington Times
Friday, August 5, 1945
This month marks the anniversary of the last time the United States unequivocally won a war.
Sixty-years ago on Saturday and Tuesday, Hiroshima and Nagasaki were flattened with atomic bombs, causing the Japanese to surrender and bringing an end to World War II.
Ugly as the atomic bombs may seem through the politically correct lens of today, in 1945, when President Truman ordered them dropped on those cities, the weapons broke Japan’s will to fight.
There is no doubt in my mind that dropping the atomic bombs was the right thing to do. The massive explosions saved both American and Japanese lives. Those of you historical second-guessers who condemn Truman’s decision to destroy those cities would have done what in August 1945?
Had Truman not ordered them deployed and instead commanded our military to invade Japan, it is estimated that upward of 1 million U.S. casualties would have been the result. Millions of Japanese would have been killed or wounded in an assault on Japan. Only a psychopath would advocate such a senseless slaughter.
Argue the moral imperatives of flattening Hiroshima and Nagasaki if you must, but it can’t be argued that flattening those cities didn’t save lives on both sides of the war. Saving lives is good, and sometimes saving lives involves killing people.
American Civil War Gen. William T. Sherman said, “War is hell.” President Truman knew this as well but also knew that unleashing the power of the atomic bombs would bring an end to World War II.
While no rational person supports nuclear war - or any war, for that matter, what I do support is when we commit U.S. troops to halt evil only when we have a plan to crush our enemies and bring the survivors to the peace table in the shortest amount of time.
We face new enemies today, many of whom belong to voodoo terror cells that will use any weapon or means to kill as many Americans as possible. Let us pray that we have a plan to kill every one of these voodoo maggots before they kill another American.
The history of mankind is one of warfare, not peace. You don’t have to like that, but you do have to admit it. Knowing that it is true, it is fundamentally devious to weaken our military as is proposed in the new Con Job Debt Reduction Agreement.
We need more smart bombs, more predator drones, more advanced intelligence equipment and assets, more special-operations teams and more improved tactics, more ammo, better night-vision equipment, more human-intelligence capabilities, more stealth and a never-ending commitment to kill the enemies of freedom and America under whatever rock they may try to hide. Kill ‘em all as quickly as possible. That’s the most effective deterrent there is. Petting or negotiating with rabid dogs is never wise. Shoot them in the head at least twice. Ammo is cheap.
America is a peaceful nation. However, America must always maintain U.S. Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis’ philosophy: “Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet.” Perfect. If there were a Hall of Fame for butt-kickers, Gen. Mattis would be in it.
War is hell. What surely is an even worse hell is losing a war.
God bless the warriors of the U.S. military and their families. They deserve victory, and as we celebrate the greatest victory ever, let us hope we still know how to accomplish it.
[WHO WROTE THIS? Mr. Ted Nugent is a rightwing conservatuive American rock ‘n’ roll, sporting and political activist icon. He is the author of “Ted, White and Blue: The Nugent Manifesto” and “God, Guns & Rock ‘N’ Roll” (Regnery Publishing).]
© Copyright 2011 The Washington Times, MOONIE GROUP
COMMENTS
I'd like this column a whole lot better without the praise for the godless mass-murderer, William Tecumseh Sherman. Sherman is not a hero here.
This piece could have been written by a junior high kid attending a public school. Ol Hank
Any thing wrong with what was written? Yes. No one really wins a war. War is a failure of government, usually all governments involved to certain degrees. After a war is over, the warriors (never people like Ted!) are told that fighting is over, and the warriors after all the killing and suffering watch as deals are made and peace comes. And those warriors often ask, "Why in God's name didn't they do that before the killing and destruction?" Ted shows his utter ignorance about war and its costs with his stupid statement "ammo is cheap." Even that is incorrect. The defense industries are a group that has stripped this nation of much of its wealth by use of fear tactics. Ike said they would do this, and they did. No wonder Republicans talk more about a guy like Reagan and not so much about Ike. Ike served this nation just about as much as any American ever. If the so-called "greatest generation" had anyone to compare with George Washington, it was Ike. And Harry Truman was indeed a great man. Sort of like a John Adams, but not nearly so erudite. Ol Hank
A Like Reply 2 hours ago 1 Like F
Dave McGraw 1 comment collapsed Collapse Expand The bombs were dropped to forestall a Russian invasion, and although it was a laudable goal, the ends did not justified the incinerated children. Nailing the imperial palace and grounds with a nuke to send the national "god" to oblivion would have been preferable.
A Like Reply 2 hours ago 1 Like F
kenwhite 3 comments collapsed Collapse Expand I'll second guess what Truman did in August, 1945. I would have notified the Japanese leadership that we (America) are going to demonstrate what will happen to your country if you don't immediately surrender. I would tell them when and where this demonstration would be (an unpopulated area as close to Japan as possible) and tell them how far they should be away from it to survive while making sure they're close enough to get the full effect of the blast. Then I would have dropped the bomb with the hope that they would now get the message that they must surrender. Only if they didn't understand would I consider dropping a nuclear bomb on Japan.
Shortly after the blast that leveled those cities, a person wandering around one of them saw what used to be an elementary school that was destroyed in the blast. All that was left were the front steps. Unbelievably, someone had lined the surviving children up on the steps so their parents could come for them. There they sat, their clothes burned into their skin, and every last one of them was screaming for their mommies. Later that day, the same observer retraced his steps and came upon the same school. There, lined up on the steps, were all the children he'd seen earlier, but they were all dead. They died in agony, scared beyond imagining and crying for their mommies.
As Nooge himself writes, "Only a psychopath would advocate such a senseless slaughter." Truman wasn't a psychopath, but he could have explored other options
A Like Reply 3 hours ago 1 Like F
kenwhite 2 comments collapsed Collapse Expand Meant to put a period at the end. By the way, General Eisenhower and plenty of other top tier Americans voiced their disgust at the dropping of the bombs. As he and others noted, Japan was about to surrender. Russia, too, was poised to invade Japan and there's no doubt that the bombs were dropped to also send them a message.
A Like Reply 3 hours ago in reply to kenwhite 1 Like F
rlhailssrpe 1 comment collapsed Collapse Expand From my readings, I learned several facts which greatly impress me. All the major combatants knew of a possible fission bomb; a speculative design was presented in a Berlin conference prior to the war. It would have worked. Within a day after each bombing the Japanese high command understood what had hit them. Yet they unanimously voted to continue the war. The Emperor, for the first time in centuries, over ruled them. Japan had peace feelers out to Stalin, but neither side's power centers considered them as valid. Stalin entered the war when the bombs assured him of certain conquest. Truman wrote that Roosevelt kept him in the dark about the Manhattan Project, while he was the VP. Truman assumed the decision to use the new bomb had already been made by his predecessor, and judged he would have been impeached if he held back on a weapon while GIs died in combat. Eisenhower was ignorant of the bomb until it was used; he knew nothing of Japanese decision making. All sides resorted to unlimited warfare, killing civilians, after the London blitz. It is estimated that ~ 90% of all causalities in the war, were civilians.
A Like Reply 1 hour ago in reply to kenwhite 0 Like
F
sandblaster 1 comment collapsed Collapse Expand More truth from the MotorCity Madman!
A Like Reply 5 hours ago 1 Like F
sandblaster 1 comment collapsed Collapse Expand Boom. Boom. War over a few days later.
A Like Reply 20 minutes ago 0 Like
F
RGS_CA_USA 1 comment collapsed Collapse Expand My father was in the second to last group of recruits to receive combat training at Camp Roberts
in the Monterey area of California. The subsequent groups received occupation training. If not for those bombs, I doubt that I or much of the Baby Boom would be here.
I have heard that the million casualty figure is considered conservative for the U.S. forces. As for the Japanese, considering the actions of civilians at Okinawa (women throwing their children off cliffs and then jumping themselves to prevent capture by the Guy Jin (I apologize if that's not spelt correctly.), men fighting to the death or committing Hari Kari.) I believe the Japanese casualties would have been horrific. Imagine fighting house to house in the cities of the major islands against this determined an enemy.
Remember, this is the same society whose members willingly and gladly allowed themselves to be trained to fly the equivelent of a wooden box with an engine, wings and a bomb just to have a chance to aim it at one of our capital ships. The same Society that produced jungle fighters that refused to give up for twenty plus years. A land invasion of the Japanese Islands would have been long, bloody and left both countries in shambles.
From what I learned over the years, the Japanese leadership was warned. Requests for a conditional and then unconditional surrender where transmitted before the first bomb and then after it. Prior to the bombs, the Japanese (depending upon which military/political group you're discussing) were not ready to surrender. In fact, at least one attempted to oust the Emporer and install a military leader during the bombing of Tokyo.
Lastly, Hank, the defense industry is more responsible for the wealth of this nation than almost any other. Advances in aviation, space flight, advanced materials (can we say kevlar, nomex, etc.?), trauma surgery, communications (including the internet which was partially funded by DARPA and was first deployed as the ARPA-NET) and a wide variety of others came from research sponsored by the DOD.
If we had not taken action to contain Japanese Imerialism and expansion (the blockade which lead to Japan attempting to oust us from the Pacific) many areas of the Pacific region would be speaking Japanese today. We were trying to negotiate with the Japanese in the late '30's and '40's. All that talk did was give the Japanese the time they needed to plan what could have been a dibilitating attack against Hawai'i. If not for a little luck (the Carrier Group's being at sea) and a little poor intelligence (the Japanese though we had so much oil it was not worth attacking our supplies on Oahu, when in fact if they had, we would have been set back by many more months or even years), the Japanese could have knocked us out of the Pacific War could have ended the day it began instead of in August 1945.
A Like Reply 1 hour ago 0 Like
F
snowleopard (cat folk gallery) 1 comment collapsed Collapse Expand My grandfather fought in the Pacific part of the war, and I have talked to many veterans of the war who were in it actively or as POW's in the home islands of Japan.
Based on what they talked of, and what I have read personally; the fact is the President has only one of three realistic choices at hand:
A. Continue the full naval blockade of the islands; which may have worked eventually to strangle the Japanese government into surrender.
B. Physical invasion of the islands themselves, with prospects of upto 1 million casulties.
C. Use the bombs and possibly bring the war to a complete and utter ending with the utter shock value of two cities annhilated.
None was a good option to be chosen; and faced with them I feel he chose the least of the evils he faced in this matter. As I was not in his position, facing the dillema, I cannot honestly say which I would have chosen either.
A Like Reply
Ending war with overwhelming force is quickest path to peace
The Washington Times
Friday, August 5, 1945
This month marks the anniversary of the last time the United States unequivocally won a war.
Sixty-years ago on Saturday and Tuesday, Hiroshima and Nagasaki were flattened with atomic bombs, causing the Japanese to surrender and bringing an end to World War II.
Ugly as the atomic bombs may seem through the politically correct lens of today, in 1945, when President Truman ordered them dropped on those cities, the weapons broke Japan’s will to fight.
There is no doubt in my mind that dropping the atomic bombs was the right thing to do. The massive explosions saved both American and Japanese lives. Those of you historical second-guessers who condemn Truman’s decision to destroy those cities would have done what in August 1945?
Had Truman not ordered them deployed and instead commanded our military to invade Japan, it is estimated that upward of 1 million U.S. casualties would have been the result. Millions of Japanese would have been killed or wounded in an assault on Japan. Only a psychopath would advocate such a senseless slaughter.
Argue the moral imperatives of flattening Hiroshima and Nagasaki if you must, but it can’t be argued that flattening those cities didn’t save lives on both sides of the war. Saving lives is good, and sometimes saving lives involves killing people.
American Civil War Gen. William T. Sherman said, “War is hell.” President Truman knew this as well but also knew that unleashing the power of the atomic bombs would bring an end to World War II.
While no rational person supports nuclear war - or any war, for that matter, what I do support is when we commit U.S. troops to halt evil only when we have a plan to crush our enemies and bring the survivors to the peace table in the shortest amount of time.
We face new enemies today, many of whom belong to voodoo terror cells that will use any weapon or means to kill as many Americans as possible. Let us pray that we have a plan to kill every one of these voodoo maggots before they kill another American.
The history of mankind is one of warfare, not peace. You don’t have to like that, but you do have to admit it. Knowing that it is true, it is fundamentally devious to weaken our military as is proposed in the new Con Job Debt Reduction Agreement.
We need more smart bombs, more predator drones, more advanced intelligence equipment and assets, more special-operations teams and more improved tactics, more ammo, better night-vision equipment, more human-intelligence capabilities, more stealth and a never-ending commitment to kill the enemies of freedom and America under whatever rock they may try to hide. Kill ‘em all as quickly as possible. That’s the most effective deterrent there is. Petting or negotiating with rabid dogs is never wise. Shoot them in the head at least twice. Ammo is cheap.
America is a peaceful nation. However, America must always maintain U.S. Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis’ philosophy: “Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet.” Perfect. If there were a Hall of Fame for butt-kickers, Gen. Mattis would be in it.
War is hell. What surely is an even worse hell is losing a war.
God bless the warriors of the U.S. military and their families. They deserve victory, and as we celebrate the greatest victory ever, let us hope we still know how to accomplish it.
© Copyright 2011 The Washington Times, MOONIE GROUP
COMMENTS
I'd like this column a whole lot better without the praise for the godless mass-murderer, William Tecumseh Sherman. Sherman is not a hero here.
This piece could have been written by a junior high kid attending a public school. Ol Hank
Any thing wrong with what was written? Yes. No one really wins a war. War is a failure of government, usually all governments involved to certain degrees. After a war is over, the warriors (never people like Ted!) are told that fighting is over, and the warriors after all the killing and suffering watch as deals are made and peace comes. And those warriors often ask, "Why in God's name didn't they do that before the killing and destruction?" Ted shows his utter ignorance about war and its costs with his stupid statement "ammo is cheap." Even that is incorrect. The defense industries are a group that has stripped this nation of much of its wealth by use of fear tactics. Ike said they would do this, and they did. No wonder Republicans talk more about a guy like Reagan and not so much about Ike. Ike served this nation just about as much as any American ever. If the so-called "greatest generation" had anyone to compare with George Washington, it was Ike. And Harry Truman was indeed a great man. Sort of like a John Adams, but not nearly so erudite. Ol Hank
A Like Reply 2 hours ago 1 Like F
Dave McGraw 1 comment collapsed Collapse Expand The bombs were dropped to forestall a Russian invasion, and although it was a laudable goal, the ends did not justified the incinerated children. Nailing the imperial palace and grounds with a nuke to send the national "god" to oblivion would have been preferable.
A Like Reply 2 hours ago 1 Like F
kenwhite 3 comments collapsed Collapse Expand I'll second guess what Truman did in August, 1945. I would have notified the Japanese leadership that we (America) are going to demonstrate what will happen to your country if you don't immediately surrender. I would tell them when and where this demonstration would be (an unpopulated area as close to Japan as possible) and tell them how far they should be away from it to survive while making sure they're close enough to get the full effect of the blast. Then I would have dropped the bomb with the hope that they would now get the message that they must surrender. Only if they didn't understand would I consider dropping a nuclear bomb on Japan.
Shortly after the blast that leveled those cities, a person wandering around one of them saw what used to be an elementary school that was destroyed in the blast. All that was left were the front steps. Unbelievably, someone had lined the surviving children up on the steps so their parents could come for them. There they sat, their clothes burned into their skin, and every last one of them was screaming for their mommies. Later that day, the same observer retraced his steps and came upon the same school. There, lined up on the steps, were all the children he'd seen earlier, but they were all dead. They died in agony, scared beyond imagining and crying for their mommies.
As Nooge himself writes, "Only a psychopath would advocate such a senseless slaughter." Truman wasn't a psychopath, but he could have explored other options
A Like Reply 3 hours ago 1 Like F
kenwhite 2 comments collapsed Collapse Expand Meant to put a period at the end. By the way, General Eisenhower and plenty of other top tier Americans voiced their disgust at the dropping of the bombs. As he and others noted, Japan was about to surrender. Russia, too, was poised to invade Japan and there's no doubt that the bombs were dropped to also send them a message.
A Like Reply 3 hours ago in reply to kenwhite 1 Like F
rlhailssrpe 1 comment collapsed Collapse Expand From my readings, I learned several facts which greatly impress me. All the major combatants knew of a possible fission bomb; a speculative design was presented in a Berlin conference prior to the war. It would have worked. Within a day after each bombing the Japanese high command understood what had hit them. Yet they unanimously voted to continue the war. The Emperor, for the first time in centuries, over ruled them. Japan had peace feelers out to Stalin, but neither side's power centers considered them as valid. Stalin entered the war when the bombs assured him of certain conquest. Truman wrote that Roosevelt kept him in the dark about the Manhattan Project, while he was the VP. Truman assumed the decision to use the new bomb had already been made by his predecessor, and judged he would have been impeached if he held back on a weapon while GIs died in combat. Eisenhower was ignorant of the bomb until it was used; he knew nothing of Japanese decision making. All sides resorted to unlimited warfare, killing civilians, after the London blitz. It is estimated that ~ 90% of all causalities in the war, were civilians.
A Like Reply 1 hour ago in reply to kenwhite 0 Like
F
sandblaster 1 comment collapsed Collapse Expand More truth from the MotorCity Madman!
A Like Reply 5 hours ago 1 Like F
sandblaster 1 comment collapsed Collapse Expand Boom. Boom. War over a few days later.
A Like Reply 20 minutes ago 0 Like
F
RGS_CA_USA 1 comment collapsed Collapse Expand My father was in the second to last group of recruits to receive combat training at Camp Roberts
in the Monterey area of California. The subsequent groups received occupation training. If not for those bombs, I doubt that I or much of the Baby Boom would be here.
I have heard that the million casualty figure is considered conservative for the U.S. forces. As for the Japanese, considering the actions of civilians at Okinawa (women throwing their children off cliffs and then jumping themselves to prevent capture by the Guy Jin (I apologize if that's not spelt correctly.), men fighting to the death or committing Hari Kari.) I believe the Japanese casualties would have been horrific. Imagine fighting house to house in the cities of the major islands against this determined an enemy.
Remember, this is the same society whose members willingly and gladly allowed themselves to be trained to fly the equivelent of a wooden box with an engine, wings and a bomb just to have a chance to aim it at one of our capital ships. The same Society that produced jungle fighters that refused to give up for twenty plus years. A land invasion of the Japanese Islands would have been long, bloody and left both countries in shambles.
From what I learned over the years, the Japanese leadership was warned. Requests for a conditional and then unconditional surrender where transmitted before the first bomb and then after it. Prior to the bombs, the Japanese (depending upon which military/political group you're discussing) were not ready to surrender. In fact, at least one attempted to oust the Emporer and install a military leader during the bombing of Tokyo.
Lastly, Hank, the defense industry is more responsible for the wealth of this nation than almost any other. Advances in aviation, space flight, advanced materials (can we say kevlar, nomex, etc.?), trauma surgery, communications (including the internet which was partially funded by DARPA and was first deployed as the ARPA-NET) and a wide variety of others came from research sponsored by the DOD.
If we had not taken action to contain Japanese Imerialism and expansion (the blockade which lead to Japan attempting to oust us from the Pacific) many areas of the Pacific region would be speaking Japanese today. We were trying to negotiate with the Japanese in the late '30's and '40's. All that talk did was give the Japanese the time they needed to plan what could have been a dibilitating attack against Hawai'i. If not for a little luck (the Carrier Group's being at sea) and a little poor intelligence (the Japanese though we had so much oil it was not worth attacking our supplies on Oahu, when in fact if they had, we would have been set back by many more months or even years), the Japanese could have knocked us out of the Pacific War could have ended the day it began instead of in August 1945.
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snowleopard (cat folk gallery) 1 comment collapsed Collapse Expand My grandfather fought in the Pacific part of the war, and I have talked to many veterans of the war who were in it actively or as POW's in the home islands of Japan.
Based on what they talked of, and what I have read personally; the fact is the President has only one of three realistic choices at hand:
A. Continue the full naval blockade of the islands; which may have worked eventually to strangle the Japanese government into surrender.
B. Physical invasion of the islands themselves, with prospects of upto 1 million casulties.
C. Use the bombs and possibly bring the war to a complete and utter ending with the utter shock value of two cities annhilated.
None was a good option to be chosen; and faced with them I feel he chose the least of the evils he faced in this matter. As I was not in his position, facing the dillema, I cannot honestly say which I would have chosen either.
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王建民外公 公園自縊身亡
王建民外公 公園自縊身亡
【中央社╱台南31日電】 2011.07.31
台南市關廟區1名82歲 82 YEARS OLD 的黃 MR HUANG 姓老翁，今天清晨疑似在住家附近公園內的單槓自縊，被發現時已經死亡，家屬不知他為何想不開。黃姓老翁是旅美職棒選手王建民生母的父親。
警方指出，今天清晨5時許接獲民眾報案，指稱在關廟區一處公園內的單槓區有人自縊，警方與消防人員趕到時，發現老翁疑似以電線延長線綁在單槓上自縊，已無呼吸心跳。
警方查出死者是82歲的黃姓老翁，沒有留下遺書。家屬在警訊中指出，老翁平時有高血壓，昨天才由家屬帶到醫院看診，直到昨晚就寢前都沒有異狀，不知道為何想不開。
黃姓老翁的鄰居說，王建民出生後過繼給親伯父扶養，黃姓老翁名義上不是王建民的外公，但王建民每次回台灣，仍會到關廟探視老人家。黃姓老翁處事低調，從不主動提及與王建民的關係，但仍很關心王建民的表現。
全文網址: 王建民外公 公園自縊身亡 | 社會 | 即時新聞 | 聯合新聞網 http://udn.com/NEWS/BREAKINGNEWS/BREAKINGNEWS2/6497196.shtml#ixzz1UDgrtjow
Power By udn.com
The Wang Jianmin grandfather park hung oneself dies the Wang Jianmin grandfather park to hang oneself dies [Central News Agency ╱ Tainan on 31st] 2011.07.31
Taina guan's temple area 1 82 year old of 82 YEARS OLD yellow MR the HUANG surname old man, in the park high bar hangs oneself doubtful this morning nearby the house, was discovered when already died, the family member did not know why he can'tlook on the bright side of thing. The yellow surname old man is stays in US the Major League Baseball contestant Wang Jianmin birth mother's father. The police pointed out that this morning about 5:00 receives the populace to report, claimed in a guan's temple area park high bar area some people hang oneself, when the police and the fire fighters rush, discovered that the old man ties up doubtful by the electric wire production on the high bar hangs oneself, already non-breath palpitation. The police find out the dead are 82 year-old Huang Xing the old man, has not left behind the posthumous writings. The family member pointed out in the danger signal that the old man usually has hypertension, yesterday only then brought from the family member to the hospital to look examines, did not have the unusual form before last night sleeping, did not know why couldn't look on the bright side of thing. The yellow surname old man's neighbor said that after Wang Jianmin is born, adopts for kisses uncle to nurture, the yellow surname old man is not Wang Jianmin's grandfather in name, but Wang Jianmin each time returns to Taiwan, still will arrive at the guan's temple to visit the old person. The yellow surname old man handles matters the low key, ever not on own initiative mentions with Wang Jianmin's relations, but still very much cared about Wang Jianmin's performance.
【中央社╱台南31日電】 2011.07.31
台南市關廟區1名82歲 82 YEARS OLD 的黃 MR HUANG 姓老翁，今天清晨疑似在住家附近公園內的單槓自縊，被發現時已經死亡，家屬不知他為何想不開。黃姓老翁是旅美職棒選手王建民生母的父親。
警方指出，今天清晨5時許接獲民眾報案，指稱在關廟區一處公園內的單槓區有人自縊，警方與消防人員趕到時，發現老翁疑似以電線延長線綁在單槓上自縊，已無呼吸心跳。
警方查出死者是82歲的黃姓老翁，沒有留下遺書。家屬在警訊中指出，老翁平時有高血壓，昨天才由家屬帶到醫院看診，直到昨晚就寢前都沒有異狀，不知道為何想不開。
黃姓老翁的鄰居說，王建民出生後過繼給親伯父扶養，黃姓老翁名義上不是王建民的外公，但王建民每次回台灣，仍會到關廟探視老人家。黃姓老翁處事低調，從不主動提及與王建民的關係，但仍很關心王建民的表現。
全文網址: 王建民外公 公園自縊身亡 | 社會 | 即時新聞 | 聯合新聞網 http://udn.com/NEWS/BREAKINGNEWS/BREAKINGNEWS2/6497196.shtml#ixzz1UDgrtjow
Power By udn.com
The Wang Jianmin grandfather park hung oneself dies the Wang Jianmin grandfather park to hang oneself dies [Central News Agency ╱ Tainan on 31st] 2011.07.31
Taina guan's temple area 1 82 year old of 82 YEARS OLD yellow MR the HUANG surname old man, in the park high bar hangs oneself doubtful this morning nearby the house, was discovered when already died, the family member did not know why he can'tlook on the bright side of thing. The yellow surname old man is stays in US the Major League Baseball contestant Wang Jianmin birth mother's father. The police pointed out that this morning about 5:00 receives the populace to report, claimed in a guan's temple area park high bar area some people hang oneself, when the police and the fire fighters rush, discovered that the old man ties up doubtful by the electric wire production on the high bar hangs oneself, already non-breath palpitation. The police find out the dead are 82 year-old Huang Xing the old man, has not left behind the posthumous writings. The family member pointed out in the danger signal that the old man usually has hypertension, yesterday only then brought from the family member to the hospital to look examines, did not have the unusual form before last night sleeping, did not know why couldn't look on the bright side of thing. The yellow surname old man's neighbor said that after Wang Jianmin is born, adopts for kisses uncle to nurture, the yellow surname old man is not Wang Jianmin's grandfather in name, but Wang Jianmin each time returns to Taiwan, still will arrive at the guan's temple to visit the old person. The yellow surname old man handles matters the low key, ever not on own initiative mentions with Wang Jianmin's relations, but still very much cared about Wang Jianmin's performance.
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