4/26    I don't understand this whole Axis deal. I mean, what does Germany
        have in common with Japan? Food? Language? Georgraphic location?
        No, no, no, and no! What the heck were Hitler/Hiro thinking?
        \_ They both believed in dominating "inferior" peoples by force
           of arms for "living space", and exterminating/experimenting on
           said "inferior" people.  Natural allies.
           \_ Sorta like the Europeans and the Native Americans?
              \_ Dang straight.  Only problem with the theory was
                 that they tried on superior people.
                 \_ Wow, the motd is full of intelligent people....  This
                    reminds me of one post that said that the (west) indians
                    created thanksgiving to show their gratitude and another
                    that implied that westerners came here only to tax the
                    locals, and I believe they weren't joking or sarcastic.
                 \_ "they" = the axis?  The axis was kicking the allies ass
                    and only lost because Hitler micro managed his superbly
                    top notch generals.
                    \_ The allies' breaking of communication codes was also
                       a big factor against both Japan and Germany. And
                       the battle of britain. But if it had gone on much
                       longer I guess Germany would've gotten nuked. Actually
                       Hitler personally helped screw the BoB too by switching
                       to pointlessly bombing London.
        \_ the "Axis" was Germany and Italy; Japan joined later.
        \_ The heat is unbearable, and you are not helping.
           \_ What do you mean, I'm not helping?
        \_ The axis are the bad guys, like the "axis of evil".  The good guys
           are the allies.  Mysterious evil strangers in a foreign land
           who would compromise the American Dream?  Axis.
           \_ Germany and Italy made up the name themselves.
              \_ If we want to be anal, the URL below says Hungary came up
                 with "axis" first for Italy, Germany, and Hungary, but no
                 one used it.  Mussolini popularized it, and he used axis to
                 mean Germany and Italy.  Then in 1940 there was a
                 "Three-Power Pact" which included Japan; all three
                 countries would cooperate "to establish and maintain a new
                 order of things".  Probably Roosevelt at some point decided
                 to start throwing around "Axis powers".
           \_ Wrongo, boyo.
              http://csua.org/u/72n
              \_ While the historical origin of "axis" is such, the usage
                 as applied today is as originally stated
                 \_ Useless dodging.  We're all too smart for that.
                    \_ I'm not sure what point we're arguing, but
                       I did post something above ("If we want to be anal").
        \_ They were both running up against the British empire and the US.
           The Brits and Americans and French were screwing around all over
           Asia. It's the same kind of alliance as France-Russia, where they
           have a mutual enemy between them but no possible conflicts.
           \_ There were liberators and opponents of the British hegemony.