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| 12/24 |
| 2009/12/24-2010/1/19 [Reference/History/WW2] UID:53600 Activity:nil |
12/21 http://entrepreneur.venturebeat.com/2009/12/18/the-secret-history-of-silicon-valley Why Stanford >> Berkeley when it comes to entrepreneurialship and much better connections to angels + VCs. It goes all the way back to the 50s. |
| 12/24 |
| 2007/12/18-20 [Reference/History/WW2] UID:48822 Activity:nil |
12/17 How to cross the border 101. Be as creative as you can. Vote
on your favorite answers:
\_ Operation Human Wave: Amass 1 million Mexicans on the borders.
On your mark, get set, CROSS! They can stop a few, but they
can't stop a million! Worked great in WW2, Vietnam and Korean War.
\_ Worked great at the end of the movie "Born in the West LA" too.
\_ Worked great at the end of the movie "Born in East L.A." too.
\_ Wear anti-infrared clothings. US Agents are known to use
infrared cameras at night time.
\_ Walk across like everyone else does. Bring a lot of water.
\_ Walk through customs along with all of the other tourists. Dress
nicely. |
| 2007/11/1 [Reference/History/WW2] UID:48507 Activity:nil |
11/1 Guys, WW2 is over. Move on man. |
| 2007/10/27-11/1 [Reference/History/WW2/Japan, Reference/History/WW2] UID:48464 Activity:nil |
10/27 Why are there so many WW2 games? 1/2 of the first person shooter
games are based in/around WW2 theatres. What happened to WW1?
Why are there no trench war, gas mask, chem gas games
\_ There are a few realistic WW1 Dreamcast games for the Japanese
market that involve driving your tank somewhere for hours
and hours staring at a tiny box on the screen representing your
limited view of the outside world if you're a tanker...
then suddenly you die and you have no idea what
hit you, the end. hours of enjoyment
\_ Because getting killed from dysentery or other diseases, rat bites,
shell shock, and getting mowed down by emplaced machine gun nests
as you run across a large, open, muddy field in yet another
pointless charge, your corpse left hanging in barbed wire as you
bleed out just doesn't sound all that much fun to most people.
WW1 was way up there on stupidly fought wars. Go read up on the
French officer's revolt and how that ended.
\_ Yeah, and besides that the war was mostly pointless. Compared
with WW2, WW1 had no real cause or glory to it at all. The
propaganda was lame and the USA was a minor player overall.
WW2 and the 50's were the golden age of the USA.
\_ At a guess, because the "really cool" weapons start surfacing in
WW2. Let's see: automatic weapons vs. mustard gas, which is sexier?
\_ Nukes are either boring game enders or so unimpressive in most
games you're better off not bothering. Mustard gas could have
some cool in-game effects. Decreased LOS, slower movement,
semi-random movement, damage over time, wind can cause it to
drift to other places including back over your own lines (which
really happened in WWI), gravity causing the gas to flow down
slopes, etc. Nukes? BOOM! Stuff is dead. Whatever. Zzzzz,
IMHO.
\_ "Atomic" != "Automatic"
\_ Oops. Back to Reading 1A for me. Anyway, I'd still
prefer mustard gas over playing rat-tat-tat.wav.
\_ I really miss the old PC game "Total Annihilation". Is Supreme
Commander any good?
\_ I didn't really like it that much. SC is TA-like, but not TA.
The game is all about building out the tech 4 super units as
fast as possible then stomping the enemy base with them before
they do the same to you. The tech 1 and most tech 2 units are
unworthy of production. They get swept aside in combat. The
tech 3 are ok. You'll probably want a bunch to help your tech 4
fight off their tech 4, otherwise they're mostly useless too. |
| 2007/10/2-5 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq, Reference/History/WW2] UID:48224 Activity:moderate |
10/2 Check this out, it's awesome:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21105586
Ratio of wounded in action to killed in action:
WW2: 1 killed to 2.40 wounded
Vietnam: 1 to 3.12
Current: 1 to 8.3
\_ All Hail Western Medical Science! Amen!
\_ If you stick a tube in a vegetable, it'll be alive
indefinitely. Case in point... the veggy woman case.
\_ A lot more soldiers get wounded than before? "Ouch, I just got
poked by that cactus and my pinky is bleeding. I'm out of the
mission."
\_ No, it is really because doctors can patch up and save the lives
of soldiers with all sorts of gruesome wounds that would have
been certain death in Vietnam or WW2. Same thing for Vietnam
vs. WW2. If you go back to the Civil War, things we consider
a scratch or minor wound would be almost certain death.
\_ Advances in medicine certainly helped a lot, but it's not the
only thing going on. For one thing, the ammunition size
has decreased over the years (we used to use 7.62 rounds in
our assault rifles). The decrease was driven by limits on
soldier carrying capacity (as soldiers were called upon to
carry more and more equipment), by the fact that the
crucial thing is to disable, not kill, and by noting that
most engagements were fought at distances where larger
rounds were not necessary to achieve decent ballistics.
-- ilyas
\_ Uhm... ok *our* rounds are smaller but doesn't it really
matter what the *other* guys are using? I suspect your
typical AlQ/Iraqi/Whatever gun toter is not carrying the
same load as an American solider in combat.
\_ The russians moved to a similar smaller round (which
is what the AK-74 fires). There are still a lot of
AK-47s in circulation in Iraq, of course. My point is,
the reduced fatalities are not due to medical advances
alone, but the changing realities of modern engagements.
-- ilyas
\_ "Alone"? No. But a huge and seriously major part of
the reason why more solider survive combat wounds?
Absolutely. Think of the Civil War era. Shoot one
of those poor no-medical-bastards with a round of
any size you like. The odds that what we now think
of as a simple infection kills them is extremely
high. It doesn't matter how big a wound. Medicine
gets better every year and what used to mean death
is now a routine fix.
\_ Let's not let justified loathing of the war diminsh the
achievements of the people fighting to keep our soldiers alive.
I'm against the war, but I think the advances in medicine have
been amazing and laudable.
\_ I don't think anyone was dimishing medicines achievements.
Without them there'd be a lot more dead soldiers and others. |
| 2007/9/6-10 [Science/GlobalWarming, Reference/History/WW2] UID:47924 Activity:nil |
9/6 What are some "real" advantages of global warming? I'll start:
\_ Lost airmen from WW2 are being found! Yes!
\_ Canadians heating bills will decrease!
\_ Ice road truckers will have to get real jobs
\_ Go swiming at beaches year round. And beaches will be much closer
to your home due to rising sea level.
\_ No more pesky polar bears to worry about.
\_ Northwest passage will be open year round.
\_ Arctic oil will be easier to drill, accelerating the process.
\_ Fur demand will go down, saving the endangered species. |
| 2007/7/7-11 [Reference/History/WW2, Reference/History/WW2/Germany] UID:47217 Activity:nil |
7/7 I just saw Band of Brothers. Curahee!! Like I said,
German artillery is the best.
\_ D-Day Weekend on the History Channel.
\_ In WW2, are parametics somehow magically exempt from getting
targetted? German snipers could have easily picked them off
but didn't. Why?
\_ Who says they didn't?
\_ Geneva convention, I guess. Paramedics are not armed and
fighting, although they are in uniform.
\_ GC were violated all over the place by all parties in WW2.
\_ my guess is that in the battle field, they were so busy killing
those who has potential to threaten them (i.e. those in arms),
that shooting parametics are simply very low on their priority.
\_ I read something a few years ago that said most rounds fired
in WW2 weren't aimed at anyone in particular, just the
general direction of the enemy to get them to stay down and
not shoot back. |
| 2007/6/25-28 [Reference/History/WW2/Germany, Science/GlobalWarming, Reference/History/WW2] UID:47068 Activity:low |
6/26 I have concluded that the most effect troll baits are, in the
order of effectiveness:
-GWB & his Iraq War
\_ you gotta admit, Iraq is a major issue.
-WW2 superiority of Germans, Russians, Americans
\_ i dont think that was such a bad troll.
\_ That's not really a troll. Apparently a few motders are WWII nuts,
and like talking about WWII, but if you notice the discussion is
very civil.
-The superiority of suburbs vs. cities
-I love I hate free market
\_ Don't forget gun control, a frequent motd favorite
\_ Don't forget "Is global warming real?", "Is global warming caused by
human?" and "Is hybrid vehicles the/a/not a solution to global
warming?" A now-less effective troll is "Are we running out of
oil?" which has been superceded by the global warming trolls.
\_ I found out today it's "superseded". who knew. |
| 2007/5/15-17 [Reference/Military, Reference/History/WW2] UID:46651 Activity:nil |
5/15 300 means more tourist business in Sparta:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/05/15/europe/letter.php
\- i thought that article was hilarious. i especially liked the
"i suspect a band of gypsies". |
| 2007/3/13-17 [Reference/History, Reference/History/WW2] UID:45947 Activity:kinda low |
3/13 A historical perspective on the '300':
http://www.thestar.com/printArticle/190493
\_ Update - The Mercury News also had a nice graphic re the
difference between the movie and reality:
\_ Update - The Mercury News had a nice graphic yesterday
re the difference between the movie and reality:
link:preview.tinyurl.com/24f6p4 (bayareanewsgroup.com) [PDF]
NOTE: I just think the differences are interesting; I
don't mean to imply that the movie/comic was bad b/c it
is not historical accurate.
Those interested in the history might want to netflix/buy
the PBS series "The Greeks: Crucible of Civilization":
http://www.pbs.org/empires/thegreeks/htmlver/index.html
\_ Miller and fans on the comic:
http://community.livejournal.com/scans_daily/3160167.html
\- i thought it was kinda funny they bothered to get some details
like the lambda on the spartan sheilds [for Lakedaimon, which
is also what is used instad of Sparta in the famous couplet
by Symonides], as well some matters with the long spear and
the short sword, the storm that destroyed part of the fleet
[although there some chronology and location issues there],
but they put them in those creepy black briefs instead of armor.
Was that a decision to appeal to women and gaylords or what?
BTW, was the dood who loses an eye and then appears at the end
at the Battle of Plataea supposed to be Pausanias or just
some random? I also thought Leonidas' Scottish accent was
hilarious. I was hoping Sean Connery would have made a cameo...
maybe as Darius ... or as Xerxes ... they could have had a
Highlander-style Immortal showdown. The also basically turned
Ephialtes into Gollum ... he was a local, not a Spartan, and
I cannot recall any mention that he was a hunchback. I was
also disappointed with the famous well-scene.
\_ http://leonidasaddressescongress.ytmnd.com
http://thisisspartaaa.ytmnd.com
\- except in sparta, if you didnt have enough $$$,
you lost your "right" to "hold the line" in battle,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spartiates#Decline_of_the_Spartiate_class
where as in the us today, hardly any reasonably welloff
people are on the battle line. well i guess exept for
their slaves they dragged into battle and used for
fodder ... oh maybe we do have something in common with
the Lakedaimonians.
\_ The movie is an adaptation of the comic book 300, not the
historical incident as recorded by Herodotus or Thucydides.
It is a very faithful adaptation of the comic, in much the
same way that Sin City was faithful. For the most part, it's
an excercise in style. Miller's a fascinating study in
both good and bad research, liberal and libertarian and
even conservative values, and the occasional good story.
Comparing 300 to the actual history is much like comparing
Hamlet to actual Danish history (with apologies to Mr.
Shakespeare re: comparing 300 to Hamlet). --erikred
\- you're making a rather obvious point. it's still an
interesting exercise to look at what is and what is
not accurate. just like it is reasonable to tell
somebody "there really is an elsinore (kronborg)
castle." also, in my opinion, there is a "yeah whatever"
type of hollywood license [like suggesting william
wallace slept with the queen of england ... something
nobody watching braveheart probably really believed],
and sort of "irresponsible revisionism" [like suggesting
the americans did the heavy lifting in breaking the
enigma cipher ... didnt u-571 suggest some such thing?].
this movie was so trivial, comments like "the spartans
championed freedom and reason against the despotic,
decadent persians, while the atheians didnt do anything
because they were busily engaged in juvenile gaylordism"
are more risble ["and we laughed and laughed"] than
offensive ... unless maybe you are an athenian or
iranian. how many people even realized that WAS
a lambda on the shield, and not just a chevron or
some other design.
\_ I'm pointing out that the lack of armor is due to there
not being armor on the characters in Miller's comic.
Ditto for elements of grotesquery. I enjoy the pointing
out of historical deviations as much as the next geek,
but I thought I'd point out that your quibbles are with
the comic the movie is based on, not some sort of
historical recreation on the part of the movie. |
| 2006/10/23-24 [Reference/History, Reference/History/WW2] UID:44918 Activity:nil |
10/23 "What have we learned from history?"
http://www.glumbert.com/media/trojanhorse
\_ In order to learn from history one must have actually
learned history in the first place.
\_ What have we learned from mythology or the classics
would be a more appropriate caption. AFAIK, there is
no archaeological or historical basis for the story
of the trojan horse.
\_ Quotes added to denote title of program.
\_ It wasn't that long ago, historically speaking, that
Troy itself was thought to be mythical as there was no
archaeological or historical basis for the entire city.
And then someone dug it up.
\_ If you are talking about Hisarlik, my understanding
is that there is still some debate about whether it
was the real location of Troy and/or the site of the
Torjan War.
\_ Debate? Who is saying it isn't so? Anyway, 'some debate'
doesn't mean it isn't true. There is 'some debate' about
human caused global warming, too, but that debate is over. |
| 2006/10/7-10 [Reference/History/WW2] UID:44711 Activity:nil |
10/7 Spitfire vs. P51 one on one, which one will win? |
| 2006/8/22-24 [Reference/History/WW2] UID:44094 Activity:nil |
8/22 RIP Stargate SG-1
\_ At the end of the season.
\_ Please please please have them wrap this up in some way that
makes sense.
\_ I predict we'll invade the Ori-held planets and bomb
\_ I predict we'll invade the Aurii(sp?)-held planets and bomb
them until they come to love and appreciate us, winning their
hearts and minds and thus vanquishing our enemy.
\_ What are you trying to do, MAKE me wish the series would
die?
\_ You mean like in WW2?
\_ The only thing I think would make sense is for something to
happen to spur the ancients to action against the Ori.
\_ Well the stargate system turns out to be something like a
child's toy from another dimension. Having outgrown it, the
child puts it aside where it eventually collapses. All SG
faring races blame each other which is the start of the first
and last multi-galactic war. All life in the universe is
destroyed. Except for the hot chicks, of course. The end.
\_ At least SciFi hasn't taken away Atlantis' ZedPM:
http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=0&id=37607 |
| 2006/6/29-7/3 [Reference/History/WW2] UID:43525 Activity:nil |
6/29 Pretty cool Axis & Allies clone; allows for local & net play:
http://triplea.sourceforge.net/mywiki -John |
| 2006/5/30-31 [Recreation/Computer/Games, Reference/History/WW2] UID:43224 Activity:nil |
5/30 Super Mario -- Communist Propaganda?
http://www.allempires.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=12015 -John
\_ Funniest shit I've ever seen on motd. Thanks so much John. |
| 2006/5/22-28 [Reference/History/WW2, Reference/History/WW2/Germany] UID:43144 Activity:nil |
5/22 http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060522/od_nm/britain_potatoes_dc Potatoes may contain pieces of German ordnances from WW1 and WW2. \_ obPotatoMasher: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_24_grenade |
| 2006/5/15-18 [Reference/History/WW2] UID:43055 Activity:nil |
5/15 I'm involved with a mod of the EA Battlefield series ("involved" =
agreed to do some poking around.) They're looking for help with
voice acting. Unfortunately, being a mod and a free effort, they
have no money to spend and are not allowed to ask for donations (EA
license.) They need voice clips of all the major WWII combatants, but
having no money, have no access to good sound recording equipment. I
had the idea to ask around acting & broadcasting schools, as maybe
students would be willing to trade some work and access to facilities
for screen credit. I have no idea how these things usually work,
though. Can someone give me some pointers of where to ask? -John
\_ No clue but how the hell did you get contacted? I'm jealous
\_ I play it a lot and asked if I could help...why? -John |
| 2006/3/27-29 [Science/Physics, Reference/History/WW2] UID:42450 Activity:kinda low |
3/27 This is a very stupid and specific question regards to design
of main battle tank:
why the main gun of most of main battle tank in the world are
smoothbored instead of rifled?
\_ Just a guess but the advent of laser guided missiles obviated the
need for point-to-point riffled payloads. In another word there
is no longer a clear need for line-of-sight with modern missiles.
\_ I'm not an MBT designer, but I would guess that they're able to
accomplish the desired accuracy/range with a smoothbore, and a
rifled shell has less explosive power (because it needs a heavier
casing to withstand the greater stress of the rotation). Mortars
shells contain more explosive than equivalent-sized artillery shells
for the same reason (which makes them particularly deadly for
urban fighting). Oh, and the M1 (but not the A1 or A2 variants)
and the new Stryker multi-tank-thing, plus the British Leopard and
a few others, all have rifled cannon. -gm
\_ Find-stabilized shells, among others. Not all MBT barrels are
smoothbore (examples are Rheinmetall 120mm and several of the
newer Soviet ones.) What above poster said too, but it's not so
much the explosive power as for accuracy of heavier shells. Also
rifled barrels wear out faster. -John
\_ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoothbore
\_ thanks. This is cool.
\- Hello, I too am not a MBT designer but having some knowledge of
EULER && LAGRANGE && NEWTON, I suspect the Moments of Inertia
which would characterize a tank shell would suggest it would not
be amenable to rotional stabilization as a small, cigar shaped
shell would be. For a discussion accessible to a science undergrad
see e.g. http://farside.ph.utexas.edu/teaching/336k/lectures/node74.html
particlarly the two conclusions at the bottom of the page. For a
more involved discussion, see the famous: http://csua.org/u/fc6
A simple demonstration of this can be done with a bed pillow
which isnt too floppy. say it is 20" long, 14" wide and 6" deep.
which isnt too floppy. say it is 2ft long, 1.5ft wide and 6in deep.
if you throw it up in the air in front of you spinning about each of
the possible axes, you will notice it is obviously less stable when
you spin it about the 1.5ft axis or "middle" Moment of Inertia axis.
you spin it about the 14" or "middle" Moment of Inertia axis.
This is actually something pretty cool to prove, rather than just
one of these artificial physics problems. And now we can talk about
THE FEYNMAN SPRINKLER.
\_ My classical mechanics text called this The Tennis Racket Theorem.
I tend to think a better example is with skateboards. Rotating
around the principle axis with the smallest moment of inertia
is a kickflip, rotating around the axis with the largest moment
of inertia is a varial or a shove-it, but the unstable middle
axis is called the "ollie impossible" for good reason. Both
the kickflip and the varial can be done by just kicking the
board and landing, but the impossible generally involves guiding
to board around with your foot to keep it stable. At least that's
how I do it. I could kickflip and varial years before I learned
the imposible, which I think you'll find is typical of most
skaters. Of course I could do all three years before I
knew what a moment of inertia tensor was or could prove the
tenis racket theorem.
\_ My classical mechanics text called this The Tennis Racket
Theorem. I tend to think a better example is with
skateboards. Rotating around the principle axis with the
smallest moment of inertia is a kickflip, rotating around the
axis with the largest moment of inertia is a varial or a
shove-it, but the unstable middle axis is called the "ollie
impossible" for good reason. Both the kickflip and the varial
can be done by just kicking the board and landing, but the
impossible generally involves guiding to board around with
your foot to keep it stable. At least that's how I do it. I
could kickflip and varial years before I learned the
imposible, which I think you'll find is typical of most
skaters. Of course I could do all three years before I knew
what a moment of inertia tensor was or could prove the tenis
racket theorem.
\- Oh, i havent heard that name. what CM text? that is a pretty
good name, although since a rackt isnt symmetric in one of
the axes, people may get distracted by that. i didnt claim
a pillow was the best object to demonstrate, but i think more
people on the motd have a pillow than a skateboard. but sure,
i think people have an intuitive sense of the instability of
of the "middle rotation" with the s'board and racket. i always
liked the calculations/proofs that had physical interp ...
kepler planet laws, calculate escape velocity, period of a
pendulum indep of mass ... more than the contrived problems.
\_ Barger and Olsson, which I loathed.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0070037345/sr=8-2/qid=1143569740/ref=sr_1_2/103-6187066-5024642?%5Fencoding=UTF8
I really liked that class, and learned from a mix of
different books plus lecture, but I do not recomend this
book except for a couple random topics. I see what you
mean about pillow vs. skateboard. I guess my point is
that while the typical pillow user does not do a whole
lot of rotational mechanics experiments, the typical
skateboard user spends hours and hours conducting those
experiments and develops a certain intuition about it.
\_ I replied earlier and it got deleted. The text was
Barger and Olson[sp?], which I do not recommend. The class
kicked ass, but that text was overall pretty weak. I see
what you mean about more people having access to a pillow.
My arguement is that while there are fewer skateboard users
than pillow users, most pillow users rarely do rotational
mechanics experiments with their pillows whereas skaters
spend so much time doing these experiments that they have
multiple names for all three of the principle axes. Also,
I think a lot of non-skaters now know what the kickflip
and the ollie impossible are because of that Tony Hawk
video game.
\- oh, i have not heard of that book. i didnt think
MARION and THORNTON was that exciting. GOLDSTEIN
was really good but pretty hard. herstein:algebra::
goldstein::mechanics. VI ARNOLD was life changing, but
really that is an EVANS HALL book not a LECONTE book.
have you also used LANDAU and LIFSHITZ? I have only
analyized their awesome Stat Mech book, but their
Classical Mech book is also supposed to be awesome.
BTW, the AMAZONG comments for some of these books
are pretty funne, esp for MISNER && THORNE && WHEELER.
oh, i suppose you can alos do the "tennis racket"
experiment with an UNOPENED CEREAL BOX.
One of my favorite AMAZONG comments is from UCB
MONSTER FIELDS PROFESSOR about BOGOLIUBOV QFT book
at: http://csua.org/u/ahe
\_ I think the Jackson comments on Amazon are some of
the funniest. Also the comments on Wolfram's
latest doorstop are hillarious. Yeah, L&L rules.
I used that a bit during the course. Where you a
physics major, or are you just into it for fun?
\_ started in physics but didnt want to do 111
and a year of 110 [i spent some time designing
the polarimetery system of a satellite so i
got enough EM on the job] so ended up doing
a lot of work in smplectic geometry and
ergodic theory and lie algebras.
\_ thanks... i flunked my Fizzix 7A :p
\_ I tried the pillow experiment. That is cool. |
| 2005/7/29 [Reference/Military, Reference/History/WW2] UID:38876 Activity:low |
7/28 John, this is for you... on the reference of ww2
"Nippon's true aim in the prosecution of the Greater East
Asia War is the maintenance of self-existence and self-defense
for the Empire and the emancipation of the peoples in Greater
East Asia from the yoke of the United States and Britain.
This sacred war aim is recognized by all human beings on
earth. There is a world of difference between our war aim
and that of the United States and Britain.
\_ Yeah, and it was war necessity to kill and rape 300k civilians in
the city of Nanjing in order to achieve this.
\_ Sometimes you must choke a dog in order to give it medicine. |
| 2005/7/23-26 [Reference/History/WW2/Germany, Reference/History/WW2] UID:38794 Activity:low |
7/23 For ilyas: WWII as an MMORPG chat transcript.
http://www.strategypage.com/humor/articles/military_jokes_20057151.asp
\_ Far be it from me to be an expert on 'what kids these days say,'
but this is Counterstrike slang. Thanks though. -- ilyas
\_ what?
\_ no, an RTS chat transcript
\_ As that host seems to be down, you might be interested in WW2
online, and "Forgotten Hope", an excellent BF1942 mod. Many of the
kiddies in the forums seem to be reasonably knowledgeable. -John
\_ They got some order of things wrong (Barbarossa was before Pearl
Harbor, for example) but it is still pretty funny.
\_ ROTFLMAO!!! LOLZ! |
| 2005/7/23-26 [Reference/History/WW2] UID:38793 Activity:nil |
7/23 I just finished reading Citizen Soldiers by Stephen E. Ambrose.
It's a sort of GI view history of WWII in Europe from D-day to
V-E day. I thought it was pretty good, very balanced and has a
lot of good stories.
\_ Look at The Good War by Studs Terkel, Once There Was A War by
John Steinbeck, Guadalcanal Diary by Richard Tregaskis, Ernie Pyle's
War, by Ernie Pyle, and any WWII cartoons by Bill Mauldin--I think
you might enjoy them all tremendously. -John |
| 2005/7/20-21 [Reference/History/WW2/Germany, Reference/History/WW2] UID:38723 Activity:moderate |
7/20 James Doohan, RIP. Insert obligatory Scotty jokes here.
\_ He's been beamed up?
\_ Guess there were some miracles he couldn't work. (laddie)
\_ If life was a TNG episode, they'd just manipulate a previously
unknown effect of dilithium crystals, the transporter, and a
newly discovered time travel effect in order to bring him back to
life.
\_ Damn, the guy was machine gunned down trying to take Juno beach
during D-Day. I guess Scotty was pretty tough after all.
\_ The shot that went for his chest was blocked by his
cigarette case ... So smoking CAN be healthy.
\_ Wearing body armor is even MORE healthy.
http://gojackarmy.castpost.com/156.html
\_ What %tage of WWII soldiers had body armor?
\_ You are one piss-poor troll.
\_ Nah, but carrying a cigarette case can be.
\_ How many nonsmokers carry cigarette cases? |
| 2005/5/30-31 [Reference/History/WW2] UID:37889 Activity:nil |
5/30 Happy Memorial Day. It's pretty cool to see so many ads for
Call of Duty (ext pack) and Medal of Honor Pacific Assault, which
coincides with Memorial Day. Here's a pretty cool marketting idea
for EA. They should hire a real WW2 vet who says "I'm a real vet
and I aprove this game. Sempre Fi!"
\_ PA and all the CoDs are awesome (I think.) Especially the
atmosphere in PA is amazing. -John |
| 2005/4/24-25 [Reference/History/WW2, Reference/Celebration] UID:37339 Activity:low |
4/24 Today is the 90th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.
\_ Yay! Let's celebrate!
\_ We don't care. Especially when Turkey is our ally. Just like
how we don't care about Japan's war atrocities in WW2.
\_ How you dare sarcatsic equate little Turkey domestic problem
with China legitimate national grievance? Typical american.
\_ You've obviously never served.
\_ bad fake chicom troll. |
| 2005/4/19-21 [Reference/History/WW2] UID:37273 Activity:high |
4/19 Related to the poll below re which era you would like to visit.
If you could go back in time and witness one battle which one
would you pick? Personally I'd choose the Battle of Marathon.
\- i assume you have read your herodotus. you might
read s. pressfield: gates of fire if you have not
already. in a different time, if interested in battle
details and a story better than da vinci code, see
e.g. "the archers tale" by bernard cornwell. decent quick
pulp read ... long description of crecy. and of course
A Distant Mirror is a classic. have not read Solider
in the Fog. btw, thucydides >>>> herodotus. ok tnx.
\- Why marathon and not thermopylae?
O xein angellein Lakedaimoniois hoti tede
keimetha tois keinon rhemasi peithomenoi
Might pick Agincourt or Crecy, maybe Zama or Gaugmela,
Cannae or Teutoberger Wald/Clades Variana, Pharsala or
Actium or Salamis. --psb
\_ iirc, Marathon came first and basically ensured
that Greek civilization (specifically Athens)
would survive. Also Marathon was a real victory
in which the good guys mostly walked away unscathed
vs. Thermopylae in which the good guys (Leonidas
and the 300 Spartan Hoplites) got killed.
\- i thought you were going for the drama factor. um,
"good guys" here is clearly a "relative term". if you
are filled with hate for persians, set your time
machine to gaugmela. i think it would be pretty cool
to hang out with agricola or marcus aurelius or any of
the "good emperors" for a season. i suppose it might
be horribly fascinating for some to see what exactly
tiberius did after retiring to capri. tagging along
for the melian dialog would be pretty amazing.
cannae would be more interesting than marathon. --psb
\_ The one where the Romans attacked Syracuse and got their asses
kicked by devices designed by Archimedes. That would have to have
been a good day to be a nerd.
\- i assume you have read your herodotus. you might
read s. pressfield: gates of fire if you have not
already. in a different time, if interested in battle
details and a story better than da vinci code, see
e.g. "the archers tale" by bernard cornwell. decent quick
pulp read ... long description of crecy. and of course
A Distant Mirror is a classic. have not read Solider
in the Fog. btw, thucydides >>>> herodotus. ok tnx.
\- Why marathon and not thermopylae?
O xein angellein Lakedaimoniois hoti tede
keimetha tois keinon rhemasi peithomenoi
Might pick Agincourt or Crecy, maybe Zama or Gaugmela,
Cannae or Teutoberger Wald/Clades Variana, Pharsala or
Actium or Salamis. --psb
\_ Why the FUCK is it so hard for you to indent like a normal
person?
\_ emacs is lame.
\- E_FOOLISHCONSISTENCY
\_ iirc, Marathon came first and basically ensured
that Greek civilization (specifically Athens)
would survive. Also Marathon was a real victory
in which the good guys mostly walked away unscathed
vs. Thermopylae in which the good guys (Leonidas
and the 300 Spartan Hoplites) got killed.
\- i thought you were going for the drama factor. um,
"good guys" here is clearly a "relative term". if you
are filled with hate for persians, set your time
machine to gaugmela. i think it would be pretty cool
to hang out with agricola or marcus aurelius or any of
the "good emperors" for a season. i suppose it might
be horribly fascinating for some to see what exactly
tiberius did after retiring to capri. tagging along
for the melian dialog would be pretty amazing.
cannae would be more interesting than marathon. --psb
\_ Anything big in WWII (assuming I get my invisible bullet-proof
flying bubble to watch it from.) -John |
| 2005/4/17-18 [Reference/History/WW2, Academia] UID:37230 Activity:nil |
4/17 Lost Greek plays rediscovered:
http://tinyurl.com/b3hv2 (news.independent.co.uk)
\_ This is really cool.
\_ "Oxford academics have been working alongside infra-red
specialists from Brigham Young University, Utah." I hope they're
not using magic stones to do the translation. |
| 2005/1/22-24 [Politics/Foreign/Canada, Reference/History/WW2] UID:35860 Activity:insanely high |
1/22 Can anyone give advice for preparation for the US citizenship interview
questions?
\_ It's nothing to worry about. All you need to do is memorize
the answers to the 3 pages of questions in
http://uscis.gov/graphics/services/natz/100q.pdf. From my
experience, that of everyone I've talked to (half a dozen people),
and some vague suggestions to that extent on their website,
they always just pick a subset of those questions. This is
presuming that you're talking about the US history/government quiz
rather than the standard set of "are you a communist?"-like
\- No one expects, the America
\- No one expects, the American
Inquisition. --psb
\_ They sometimes ask whether you
support communism or are sympathetic
to any communist party. You are
free to believe, but some belief is
less free than others.
\_ Obviously. Some ideologies
(militant islam and communism)
are 'hegemonizing.'
\_ so this is a commie country?
\_ The point just whizzed by
your head, didn't it?
questions that comprise the rest of the interview. The latter
are nothing to worry about unless you've got something to hide.
\_ Ok, thanks.
\_ if it's Canadian, you can try this: http://tinyurl.com/6gy4u
[it's simply a joke of the day] |
| 2005/1/21 [Reference/History/WW2, Reference/History/WW2/Germany] UID:35852 Activity:nil |
i/21 Another related article, especially for the "Useful Idiot" lefty
on the MOTD who regurgitates everything that Mike Moore says:
http://paulgraham.com/say.html
\_ "Let's start with a test: Do you have any opinions that you
would be reluctant to express in front of a group of your
peers? If the answer is no, you might want to stop and
think about that. If everything you believe is something
you're supposed to believe, could that possibly be a
coincidence? Odds are it isn't. Odds are you just think whatever
you're told."
He definitely has the Limbaugh trick of starting with a ridiculous
assertion down. -tom
\_ So, why would this be a ridiculous assertion? Do you actually
believe whatever you are taught to believe? If so, then you
really do have a small mind, which many on the MOTD have already
suspected of you. Of course, your failure to understand and
participate in real discourse is legend. Anyway, the article is
a-political. It merely points out the fact that people like you
are merely monkeys trained to think the way you do and have
never had a real independent assertion in your life.
\_ I don't know if Limbaugh has the monopoly on that. But it's the
false dichotomy that amuses me. Another reason you might not
have a problem stating what you believe is that you're
self-confident (that is, you know people will disagree, but you
don't care).
\_ So in other words you are a coward.
\_ What is an example of such an opinion? That he likes little boys? |
| 2005/1/20 [Reference/History, Industry/Startup, Reference/History/WW2] UID:35829 Activity:kinda low |
1/20 Why do people bid up items past its Buy It Now Price?
\_ why does the interface allow them? shouldn't it just BUY NOW
as soon as they reach the 'buy now' price?
\_ once you start bidding on a Buy Now item, the Buy Now option
goes away (unless there is a reserve)
\_ The buy it now price is generally set above the opening bid. Once
someone bids for the item the buy it now option generally goes
away. Basically, the seller is hoping someone is desperate and
will immediately pay more for the item. The bidders, by bidding
instead of paying the buy it now price, are hoping no one else will
want it badly too. Sometimes bidders miscalculate and there is
a bidding war ... On some items the buy it now price is the same
or just pennies above the opening bid, meaning the seller
essentially just wants to sell the item for price X. If someone
bids on that one, then they are morons.
\_ yeah, well the exception to this is that the supply is so great
(for example I was buying a popular DVD movie) that even when
you've been outbidded, you can just go to the next item. This is
effective when the item is popular and when you're really cheap
and want to save a buck or two. |
| 2005/1/17-18 [Reference/History/WW2] UID:35741 Activity:low |
1/16 Are harddrives 100.00% axis-independent? In another word, will
they get 100.00% same efficiency/reliability if you run them
the right side up, up side down, side-ways, etc?
\_ The chimp says ***Evil Axis*** must die
\_ No, they're only 99.99% axis- independent. Due to gravity there
are slight fluctuations on the rotational axis of the drive which
the internal logic attempts to compensate for, but is not 100%
effective. Also, moving the drive around to different parts of
the room will affect it because of the magnetic field of the earth.
We spent about 10 years measuring this and we know that the
effect can be as high as .0000001% of the drive speed. So, get
out your magnenometer and start optimizing the placement of your
hard drive! |
| 2005/1/10-11 [Reference/History, Reference/History/WW2] UID:35640 Activity:high |
1/10 Was there a real Trojan War?
\_ Yes. -- ilyas
\- google(schliemann, troy). Well, you can also read say MI Finley:
World of Odysseus ... I believe some of the scholarship here is
not quite up to date but it is pretty readable and should be
fine for the basic stuff on the "world of the trojan war".
The composition and authorship questions surrounding the Iliad
has more uncertainty and is more interesting Q, IMHO.
\_ An good books re Iliad/Oddessy authorship that you would
recommend?
\- if you live in berkeley, particularly if you are a
student, there are some good classes/teachers who
will cover the iliad, particularly say mark griffith.
i dunno if western civ 44a is still taught at berkeley
but that class gave a really fine introduction to homer,
attic drama, the peloponnesian war etc. of course the
reading list [of priamry material] was about 1.5ft high.
BTW, you may see this book prominently displayed in
bookstores: http://csua.org/u/ant Avoid it at all costs.
Well, if you know your stuff and want to get angry it may
be worth reading. The author says some really foolish
things and is basically unqualified to write on Homer.
I began a BLOGORANT on this in Aug'04 and will try to
finish it in Feb'05. Ok tnx. --pater andron te theon te
\_ Perhaps. There is some evidence that Meleaus was a real Spartan
king and that Agamemnon of Mycenea was powerful enough to have
raised a fleet to sail to the Dardenelles. However there doesn't
seem to be any proof that Helen (queen of Sparta) existed or
that the Greeks sailed to the Dardenelles to recover her.The
evidence seems to point to some sort of trade dispute. There
is some proof that the Greeks won the war w/ Troy b/c there
are mentions of slaves (mostly women) being brought from the
near east to Sparta circa the time of the Trojan War. WRT the
fall of troy as described by Homer, the Greeks were probably
not responsible for the destruction of Troy 6 (Troy of the
Sloping Walls), which is the city that existed at about the
time that the Trojan War is supposed to have occured. An
earthquake was probably responsible, though some believe that
when Homer mentioned the power of Neptune as destroying Troy
he ment an earthquake. As for Troy 7, it appears that it may
have been under seige for some time and was finally sacked.
Troy 7 seems to have been sacked some 100 yrs later than the
Trojan War. If you are really interested in this but don't
have time to read a book on the topic you can get a 1985 BBC
documentary by Michael Wood. It is available on DVD (NetFlix
has it).
\_ good suggestion. thanks.
\- the michael wood show was also turned into a book.
um, maybe this is a persinal bias but i'd learn the
two works well first and then worry about the anthropology
and philology. a lot of the technical discussion involves
knowning greek. many of the translations of the iliad and
odyssey have good enough introductions about the homer
question, notes on composition technique [the use of
epithets for metrical fits, ring composition, the work
of milman parry etc]. after reading the poems 3 or 4 times
you might look at Nagy: Best of the Achaeans and maybe
Jasper Griffin: Homer of Life and Death. A ton of stuff
Jasper Griffin: Homer on Life and Death. A ton of stuff
has been written on Homer ... from ancient commentary
to endowed lectures at berkeley. As Jasper Griffin writes
in the intro to the book mentioned above, "nobody who
writes on homer has read everything ... that has been written
about the poems" and that you need to pick what to read
based on your interest ... the works are so rich. if you
have some particular matter you are interested in, i may
have a more specific reference. [i dont know ancient greek,
so i am not familar with techical stuff that is language-
heavy]. --psb
\_ Have you read Lombardo's Iliad translation? I liked
it but I was wondering if there were better/more
accurate ones.
\-I have never heard of the Lombardo trans. I own
Lattimore, Fagles, Fitzgerald, Mandelbaum(Ody),
and Pope(Iliad) among poetry translations. I have
some prose ones too [including one by T.E. Lawrence
(of Arabia)] but I would read one of the verse ones.
I dont think you can go wrong with any of those listed.
\_ Trojan vs. Spartan. Which is better?
\_ Spartans. Hoplites were fearsome warriors.
\_ Better at what? In fighting? Homer would probably go with the
Spartans. In art, architecture, nobility, honoring the gods?
Homer would have awarded that hands down to the Trojans.
\_ I think neither can beat Kimono. |
| 2004/12/8 [Reference/History/WW2] UID:35209 Activity:low |
12/7 I bought several portable handwarmers from Restoration Hardware as
Christmas gifts-- they're basically similar to Zippo lighters (where
you fill the saturate the lower reservoir with lighter fuel, then light
a wick of sorts on top). Only thing is, it just won't fucking work.
I'm nauseated by the fumes, my hands are covered with dry spots from
spilled fluid, but I can't get the damn burner to stay lit without
completely flaring up. Is there any trick you need to do with new
zippos? thanks.
\_ Son of a BITCH! I just burnt my hand picking the damn thing up.
I guess it's kinda lit... hooray.
\_ I bought a replica WWI trench lighter there several years ago
and had the same problem with spilled fluid and fumes. I think
their stuff is just cheaply made, but it was a cool lighter.
\_ Use the newer proheat reusable chemical hand warmers. Those
things you have are basically wwII tech. Where are you
that you need a handwarmer? |
| 2004/11/12 [Reference/History/WW2] UID:34854 Activity:kinda low |
11/12 Can somehow explain the theory of how an 80 year old WWII
veteran can make a woman feel so bad that she wants to commit
suicide?
\_ train harder. that's not what the sentence below is saying.
\_ Here you go, you dumb bitch:
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/11/12/MNGTJ9QGVV1.DTL |
| 2004/8/31 [Recreation/Computer/Games, Reference/History/WW2] UID:33245 Activity:high |
8/31 Battlefield Vietnam is AWSOME! I just downloaded the WW2 mod from
EA and now I can play some of the BF1942 maps. It is really really
nice. It's like buy 2 games for the price of 1, with a LOT of
improvements.
\_ You did not deserve to download that mod and are unfit to play
multiplayer. -Battlefield Vietnam Veterans for Truth
\_ Okay that was pretty funny.
\_ http://tinyurl.com/67x4j
http://www.gengamers.com/html/bv-27.html
\_ the Napalm on the F4-- totally useless
the mortars-- hard to aim, the range of harm is limited. USELESS
heat seeking missiles-- totally cool
\_ Do you get a purple heart for suffering 1 point of damage from
your own grenade you threw when you thought someone was there,
but actually no one was shooting at you?
\_ Use your name, coward, so I can mug you and make an imprint
of my dad's purple heart in your forehead with a bat.
\_ tough guy! reminds me of being 13 on a 300 baud modem when
everyone was telling their 'enemies' to show at some park but
no one ever did.
\_ actually when I was 15 and I had a fast 1200 baud
modem I tricked one of my enemies into showing up
at a restaurant (he stole my girlfriend so I made
up a fake girl account on a BBS that he visited
frequently) and he got really pissed that he waited
3 hours and asked me why I didn't show up and I
just wrote back "fuck off you pervert." That'll
show him not to steal other people's gf. Ah those were
the days
\_ You think you won that exchange? He waited three
hours in a restaurant and fucked your girl. Can
I get that special as well please? To go. Thanks.
\_ Women are property! There's a strong conservative
value!
\_ No, but you do get a silver star for valor with a "v" for valor
on it which has never been issued.
\_ So how many [DEM] JOhn_KErry players have you seen online?
Do they run away after the first shot?
\_ They kill [REP] and [VC] with their bare hands.
\_ For some reason [REP] John_McCain always gets shot in the back by
his clanmates.
\_ You guys are awesome. This totally made my day. |
| 2004/6/5-6 [Reference/History/WW2] UID:30625 Activity:kinda low |
6/5 Happy D-Day Normandy Omaha Beach Carnage Landing Day! Do you
personally know of anyone (grandpa, great grandpa, etc) who
participated on D-Day?
\_ It was roughly 7,000 dead on the first day alone.
\_ No, but I visited all the battlefields in Normandy a few years
ago. It's absolutely horrific--you stand on the bluffs above
Omaha and wonder who could survive that. At Point du Hoc there's
a huge pit you can go down into (ca. 15-20 feet deep) before you
realize it's from a single 16" shell. None of the documentaries
I've seen do it justice. -John
\_ thanks for sharing this with us. Can you tell us more? Do you
have a personal blog/picture/documentary you can share with
us online? Thanks. |
| 2004/6/1 [Reference/History/WW2] UID:30519 Activity:nil |
6/2 You've got just over an hour to be patriotic then it's back to hating
America in the morning. Thank you. Good night.
\_ Actually Memorial day is about those who have died fighting in
wars-- justified or not--waged by our country. Patriotism has
nothing to do with it.
\_ sick bastard, you celebrate warring and not what the
soldiers fought for? many vets are upset that they feel
everything they died for in wwII is going to waste on scum
like you
\_ God bless the WW2 Veterans for fighting to preserve Democracy,
to save the Jews, and to create wonderful games like Battlefield
1942, Medal of Honor, and other great 3D shooter games. |
| 2004/5/29 [Reference/History/WW2] UID:30487 Activity:nil |
5/29 D-Day week on History channel. See carnage like you've never seen.
-WW2/Carnage Lover |
| 2004/5/6 [Reference/History/WW2/Germany, Reference/History/WW2] UID:30057 Activity:high |
5/6 If Congress approves the $25 Billion request from Bush for the Iraq
War, total costs so far will equal $174 billion. Contrast this with
WWI which cost $199 billion in 2002 dollars. How much was WWII? I'm
wondering how much it will take to equal all spending on all our
wars in the 20th century, minus the Cold War of course.
\_ Maybe stuff costs a lot more now than during the 40's even when you
adjust for inflation? I don't know, just a thought.
Also, we are paying to rebuild a country. I think the WWI cost
is just to cost of defeating the German army. Also, our military
used less equipment back then than it does now.
\_ Definitely, but it doesn't subtract from the enormity of the cost.
The invasion and occupation has cost the same as the cost to
police all the streets, administer all the laws, in every
jurisdiction of the entire United States for a year.
\_ In WW1, America didn't take the brunt of fighting. The French
took the most. Started 1914, America joins 1917 after a slow
buildup of diplomatic incidents. Armistice 1918. Versailles
treaty sets up WW2. USA didn't occupy Germany.
\_ GPS bombs cost a lot more than dumb bombs. Also, casualties are a
lot lower, partially due to the high-tech stuff. |
| 2004/5/4-5 [Reference/History/WW2] UID:30007 Activity:very high |
5/4 What important US event happened near the end of September 1776?
\_ The first use of US-sponsored terrorism (the New York fire)?
So google tells me. -- ilyas
\_ Do you hate America???
\_ If you tell me what America is, I will tell you if I hate it.
-- ilyas
\_ That sounds suspiciously like what a Communist would say |
| 2004/5/4 [Recreation/Computer/Games, Reference/History/WW2] UID:29999 Activity:high |
5/4 Historical strategy games buffs, play these two:
(a) Europa Universalis 2, (b) Victoria.
Steep learning curve, but very fun. There is also a WWII one using
the same engine, but that's probably not for everybody. -- ilyas
\_ Are either of these free or Free?
\_ No. -- ilyas |
| 2004/4/13 [Reference/History/WW2] UID:29923 Activity:nil |
4/13 US going to abandon South Korean allies. Pulling out of DMZ this
year. Punishment for lack of support in Iraq?
http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/breaking_3.html |
| 2004/3/11-12 [Reference/History/WW2] UID:12627 Activity:high |
3/11 What's your favorite War movie? WWII Movie?
Schindler's List doesn't count.
\_ Patton
\_ didn't that win Best Picture?
\- if we are not victorious, let no man remain alive.
\_ Six String Samurai
\_ The Empire Strikes Back
\_ we should add a separate category - sci fi epics/battles
\_ Saving Private Ryan
\_ Saving Ryan's Privates
\_ Raiders of the Lost Ark |
| 2004/3/11 [Reference/History/WW2] UID:12620 Activity:nil |
3\11 Stop censoring WW2 posts, it's actually insightful to history
dummies like me. -history dummy
\_ Sorry, the motd is not allowed to be useful unless you are
interested in how to J00S L1NUX or do your CS homework. |
| 2004/2/5 [Reference/Military, Reference/History/WW2] UID:12104 Activity:nil |
2/4 Just finished The Guns Of August by Barbara Tuchman. Wow. Highly
highly recommended if you have any interest in WWI history.
\- you may wish to read: E.H. Carr: Twenty Years Crisis --psb
\_ hew strachan. the first world war. only volume 1 so far tho. |
| 2004/1/26 [Reference/History/WW2] UID:11934 Activity:nil |
1/25 Ok, I'm watching a documentary on WWII (on KCET) and it's ENTIRELY
IN COLOR. What the hell is going on? It doesn't look like
re-enactments; I'm seeing D-Day and hedgerows and concentration camps
and incredibly thin prisoners an IT'S ENTIRELY IN COLOR. Martin Sheen
is narrating.
n \_ maybe it's technicolor.
\_ The world started turning color in the 40's. War-torn areas changed
first. Haven't you read your Calvin and Hobbes?
\_ maybe it's technicolor.
\_ haven't you ever heard of History Channel's The Color of War?
Cameras are in color.
http://www.fsu.edu/~ww2/press_release.htm
\_ there's been color, just that it's too expensive/too difficult
so most of the film in that era has been B/W. Economics my friend.
By the way Color of War is a really good documentary.
\_ Pay attention to the tint/shading. If it's sort of dusty matte,
it's probably authentic. Really bright, most likely colorized.
Color film was developed in the late 1930s, and started being
used for war footage around 1941-2. -John
\_ It's real color: http://www.pbs.org/perilousfight |
| 2004/1/11 [Reference/History/WW2] UID:11748 Activity:nil |
1/10 New low for idiotic use of the word "hacker."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3385743.stm
Beavis and Butthead start world war III from a payphone--news at 11. |
| 2003/12/15-16 [Reference/History, Reference/History/WW2] UID:11463 Activity:nil |
12/15 I don't understand the Trojan war. After the Greeks fought for 10
years to rescue the pretty Helen of Troy, wouldn't she have already
turned into a 30 year old hag making the Trojan Horse victory in vain?
\_ Homeric allegory is lost on some people.
\_ C'mon, it's principle of the thing. Think of it like M$ stealing
your code and you finally wrangling a paltry settlement out of
them a decade later....
\_ They were fighting for Agamemnon's honor as the king of the Greeks.
Also, the looting and taking of all the other women.
\_ you're forgetting about the Trojans' WMD.
\_ women of mass destruction?
\- heh. --psb
\_ if yer trojan springs a leak
\_ I don't understand what's the big deal about the Iliad. It bored
me to tears.
\- do you think this says more about you or the iliad?
Xalepa ta kala.
For discussion on the original question:
~psb/MOTD/Iliad.commentarii --psb
\_ Did you write this while in a cafe?
\- yes. why? were you watching me? --psb
\_ Did you mean: Xalapa ta kala --obGoogle
\_ There is no one way to transliterate Greek into English
characters. "Chalepa ta kala" seems the most common.
\_ I like simple books like Old Man and Sea or Of Mice and
Men. Being very old, I can see why Iliad is important, but
it is very boring and repetitive, and the whole plot line
could be summed up in half a page. Granted, it's like a
poem, but a few hundred pages of repetitions? Ugh!
\_ If you think the Iliad is boring you should try a more modern
adaptation: Ulysses. Heh. Let us know what you think.
\_ I heard that's a very boring book too. I remember Economist
saying that some think the author is just a con-artist with
a very large vocabulary.
\_ I read the Economist for all my ancient poetry and book
reviews. Good plan. I also make all my best meals from
their recipe section.
\_ A cauliflower is a cauliflower no matter how you cook
it.
\_ for u then: http://troymovie.warnerbros.com/index_noflash.html
\_ well I think it's gonna be a lame movie. They're frigging
fighting for a 30 year old hag. They could've spent 10
years doing something more constructive.
\_ funny thing for a 30 year old virgin to be saying...
\_ Cool. I would like to see the movie since I like "historical"
movies. But that doesn't change my opinion of Iliad, whose
plot is just a small subplot of the whole Troy endeavor. |
| 2003/12/10 [Reference/History/WW2/Germany, Reference/History/WW2] UID:11388 Activity:high |
12/9 If you dont' support us, you don't get the contract:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3305501.stm
This is all good except USA is panhandling the very same
nations which USA left out for reconstruction fund *AND*
debt restrucuring.
\_ Fuck em, if reconstructing their countries after WWII
and footing the defense bill for the entire Cold War was
not enough, let them rot in their socialists
constructs. Next time they need help...
\_ Err ... didn't know US helped reconstruct Russia
after WWII, and helped Russia during Cold War.
Must have been reading the wrong history books.
\_ Russia refused Marshall plan aid; it was offered. Sent
billions worth of war material during WWII; in return,
got its pilots interned. The US also sold a bunch of
nuclear reactors and massive amounts of food to the USSR
` during the cold war. Get over yourself.
And you, you illerate baboon, learn to troll. I'm
disappointed, bad show. 1941, after years of lend-lease,
hardly counts as "very late". I guess I should blame
the stellar chicom educational system for your poor grasp
of history and English grammar. Idiot. _
\
Must be reading the wrong histroy books.
\_ declared war in 1941, only after attacked. not in
Africa until 1943. By then Soviet Union already
won the war, with wermacht on full retreat in the
eastern front. Me chicom? Nah, me front line
troops against chicom unlike US stay home slackers
like yourself.
\_ US is a fucking slacker during WWII, didn't
join the fight against facism until very late.
of defense.
It is US who should thank these countries for
serving as its front line troops and first line
of defense.
\_ Rest of the world is fucking slacker now, didn't join the
fight against religious fundamentalism at all. It is the
rest of the world who should thank the US for taking the
initiative.
\- this is consistent with why i felt the UN should tell the US
"we have no interest in bailing you out" ... you got yourself
into the swamp, now you can pay for it with your blood,
treasure and possibly electoral votes. --psb |
| 2003/8/9 [Politics/Domestic/Crime, Reference/History/WW2] UID:29291 Activity:nil |
8/8 A very informative and alarming RealPlayer video about the revival of
Communism in Venezuela and Latin America in general. The first
45 mins is all that isnecessary. Chavez has been providing air
support for FARC guerrillas in Colombia.
<DEAD>video.c-span.org:8080/ramgen/gdrive/15days/e080503_venezuela.rm<DEAD>
\_ oh no! GASP! COMMUNISM! yawn.
\_ Stalin, Pol Pot, the Stasi, the Cultural Revolution.
Yup. Communism is a laughing matter. Go read about
the purges, mass killings, prison camps and grow up.
\_ 20th Century Democide
http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/20TH.HTM
Communists / Socialists resposible for 120 million deaths
last century.
\_ yeah all that money we spent to crush the soviets and hold
them back was wasted. we just should've explained to them
that all we wanted was peace and a mcdonald's in red square
and they'd pull the tanks back from eastern europe, free
hungary and the czechs and hey what the hell, let the
ukranians go, too! oh wait, all that only happened after
our system proved superior to their system and we were on
the verge of total war until then and would've been wiped
out if we hadn't destoyed them utterly. i like your
deep and well thought out line of reasoning. you're
special. very special. special K! |
| 2003/6/7-8 [Reference/History/WW2/Germany, Reference/History/WW2] UID:28668 Activity:kinda low |
6/7 First Wave at Omaha Beach - a recounting by military
historian S.L.A. Marshall from 1960
http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/60nov/omaha.htm
\_ More dead rich white men tooting their horns about how bravely
they murdered and oppressed a foreign peoples. |
| 2003/3/14 [Reference/History/WW2/Germany, Reference/History/WW2] UID:27695 Activity:high |
3/13 A Short History of World War III
http://www.partialobserver.com/ArticlePrint.cfm?ArticleID=653
\_ He forgot the terrorist plot to flush out and impurify all of
our precious bodily fluids.
\_ name one thing that is wrong in the above article.
\_ Where to begin... for one thing, the article lists
a bunch on random events and suggests that this is
evidence for a coordinated war against the US with
its roots in the Iranian revolution, without providing
any reason as to why we should connect these
events together. For another example of this sort
of thing, see:
http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/02_11_02_lucy.html
\_ This is nothing like a World War. How is it like WWI or
WWII? It is more like the War of Spanish Succession
or to correctly include the religious element, The
Counter-Reformation. Hey, we even have Ashcroft
as Inquistor General! His babble about the 2.5%
should tip you off that he is a kook.
should tip you off that he is a kook. At least
he mentions the Thirty Years War at the end.
\_ ever seen a terrorist drink a glass of water?
\_ ever seen an elephant in an apple tree?
\_ ever watched Dr. Strangelove?
\_ If you're not trying to genocide someone it isn't a World War
quality war. It's a police action at best these days. |
| 2003/2/6 [Politics/Foreign/Asia/China, Reference/History/WW2] UID:27317 Activity:very high |
2/5 Question for you freepers: what's with all the reference to
"commies" and "pinkos" on the site? I thought communism was dead.
\_ Communism was dead? What about Cuba and North Korea?
\_ Don't forget China.
\_ don't forget Berkeley
\_ Real Communism hasn't yet
been tried in Berkeley ;-)
\_ They should. They'd fall out
of love with it FAST ENOUGH.
\_ Real Communism never been tried
anywhere.
\_ What is wrong with Communism?
\_ and the freepers who call everyone who dissagrees with them
"commies" are saying that they're all in league with north
korea or cuba? are they really that dumb?
controls their legislature. CHINA, Argentina, SOuth Africa,
\_ Who cares about N. Korea. That country's about to collapse
under its own weight. Just give it some time. Cuba couldn't
hurt the U.S. if its life depended on it. It's like a
football player saying that an emaciated homeless person
is a threat to his life.
\_ Ok, then what is the difference between Communist / Socialist
beliefs and a large contigent of the Democratic party? Much of
Europe is communist / socialist. The French Communist Party,
CHINA, Venezuela, SOuth Africa,
numerous other countries in Africa, Brazil, are all communist
or heading that way.
\_ Are you really that stupid?
\_ Yeah, probably.
\_ Start with http://csua.org/u/8e7
and see what Engels had to say about Socialism.
\_ stop putting your mental diarrhea on the motd
\_ Ok so I ask a question on the differences between
the Democratic platform and socialism, and the answer
is an insult. FDR, the prototypical commie/socialist,
was jealous of Stalin because of he was much more
effective at government control.
FDR's administration was replete with communist
spies or sympathisers. The ACLU, UN etc. were
all founded by Socialists or Communists. Since I am so
naive, I'll ask the question again. If you are
not Socialist, what are you? 'Progressive'. And I guess
I really am this stupid as the rulers of the countries
I mentioned freely admit their intentions and political
affiliations. So I guess Venezuela sending Cuba
free oil is meaningless? |
| 2002/10/3 [Reference/History/WW2] UID:26090 Activity:high |
10/3 Who is better in the Civil War:
Gen Grant:
Gen Lee: .. General Lee Generally Generalleed better.
Gen Sherman:
Yermom: .
\_ Buy a history book. |
| 2002/7/12-13 [Reference/History/WW2] UID:25341 Activity:high |
7/12 Reign of Fire:
Hands down the best post-apocalyptic dragon movie I can remember. If
you're looking for a coherent and well reasoned plot look elsewhere.
But if you're looking for over 90 minutes of dialogue in
unintelligible accents from the British Isles, this is the film for
you! And if you can't get enough of rubbing those smarmy Brits noses
in the fact that we saved their asses in WWII, you can relive your
fantasies all over again watching the Americans rub the Brits' noses
in the fact that we saved them from extinction! Take that you
anti-run on sentence, proper grammar, Britons!
Seriously though, good braindead dragon smashing fun. Worth catching
a matinee. The dragons look very cool, and the way the dragon killers
SUPPOSEDLY take down dragons is very cool.
\_ What other post-apocalyptic dragon movies have there been?
\_ Oh look, he got the joke...
\_ Dungeons and Dragons
\_ No, that's a SIGN of the apocalypse.
\_ Thelma and Louise
\_ this sounds a lot like nweaver. |
| 2002/4/4-5 [Reference/History/WW2] UID:24328 Activity:nil |
4/4 http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20020404/pl_nm/crime_spying_report_dc_2 "According to the report on the case, Russia formally complained to the United States that an FBI agent tried to sell secrets to Moscow, but the FBI was not able to identify the spy within its ranks, the Post said." Why on earth would any country, even allies like Britain, complain to the US that someone is trying to sell them US secrets? It doesn't make sense to me. \_ As a show of goodwill, why not? \_ pretty sure he is a double agent? \_ He was selling them stuff they already had so it cost them nothing to turn his ass in and make them look good for free? |
| 2002/2/28 [Politics/Domestic/Crime, Reference/History/WW2] UID:23994 Activity:very high |
2/27 What's the best way to go about asking for nice keyboards and trays
from your boss? And yes my wrists really hurt.
\_ "My wrists are starting to hurt. I need a better keyboard."
They shouldn't take offense to that.
\_ and if they do take offense, go to a doctor and try "My doctor
says I'm permanently injured because of you, so I'll buy
myself a new keyboard and tray with my huge worker's comp
settlement." -tom
\_ Or you could do what a normal and reasonable person would do
and just patiently explain to them it's a serious issue and
you're "certain that the company doesn't want me to end up
crippled and unable to work" because that'll get the point across
without making you look like an asshole. Also once you start
making noise about lawyers you need to put up or shutup and
you're fucking up your future at that job and any place else you
run into those people in the future at other companies. After
that you're not good for anything but working for the government
or university or maybe some lab. Just be nice about it.
\_ what's wrong with government jobs? It's laid back and
there isn't a lot of overtime. I get to bike as much as
I want.
\_ See! That's just evil! You should be overworked and
suffering emotionally and physically to achieve the
American Dream(tm). That's what is right!
\_ From each according to his means. To each according
to his need. Overall, the wealth of the society is
better shared in communist and most socialist nations
than in the capitalist west. People are happier
there.
\_ how much time did you spend in russia before
the fall of the soviet union? how much time
did you spend in China before the reforms of the
'80s? if life was so much better in the
Communist Bloc, why did they have guard towers
and razor wire all along the beach in Tallin to
keep people from fleeing to Finland?
ok, i just re-read your reply. you're a troll.
sorry, i'm the moron..
\_ Because those people were unwilling to share
with others. They were selfishly trying to
destroy the system. It only works if everyone
wants it to, the same as any other system.
\_ whatever you do, take care of your health. if you get hurt,
claim workman's comp, etc. you make your value in the workforce
worthless for all practical purposes. if someone tries to hire
you, their insurance rates will skyrocket. they will prob hire
someone else, instead.
\_ wrist pads are cheap at CompUSA or Fry's or Internet
Likewise for the other stuff. Now if you asking for an adjustable
desk like the professors have or being able to drill holes
in the furniture or a reasonable chair, you may wish to
contact your friendly local Ergonomics department. What?
Your company is so small and so tech-unsavvy that they
don't have either an onsite dept or bring in periodic
consultants? Well, I don't know then.
[You're vs. Your correction motd god was here]
\_ "the professors" at Berkeley, except in departments with more
money than they know what to do with (EECS), have terrible
ergonomic setups. Most are using WWII Navy-surplus Steelcase
desks as computer desks. -tom
\_ Too bad the T-buildings are gone. Nothing was better than
using WWII military surplus in a WWII military "T"emporary
building.
\_ we have new T-buildings at Hearst Gym now. -tom
\_ Yeah but they're not from 3 or 4 wars ago. It's just
not the same.... -T building lover
\_ don't speak too soon, tom.
\_ what? -tom
\_ If you really feel you are injuring yourself, buy whatever supplies
you need with your own money. The amount of money will be trivial
in terms of the amount of suffering you are sparing yourself. Then
you can take your special keyboard and mouse with you to your next
job when you leave. -ax [motd formatd god was here]
\_ When I needed to raise the monitor, I just used two packs of 8.5x11
paper thinking that it costs much less than a monitor stand and just
works as well. One day my manager saw that, and he felt sorry and
automatically got me a monitor stand. I didn't intend to make him
feel guilty, but he just did it himself. So it depends on your
luck with what kind of manager or finance department you have.
\_ protecting people from injury is just good business. Any
manager that doesn't see that needs to be awakened in an
abrupt and painful manner. -tom
\_ As Tom said. Figure the cost of a $15 stand vs. the potential
liability. You think you were doing the company a favor. You
weren't. A lame-o monitor stand means *nothing* in the overall
budget. It's petty pocket change. Don't be a martyr. No one
likes a martyr.
\_ Well, on the other hand I requested the most expensive anti-
radiation anti-glare Polaroid brand screen filter that I could
find in the supply catalog, because a cheaper one doesn't work
as well. So I wasn't really a martyr. It all depends on
whether or not a cheap alternative works as well as the
conventional option.
\_ Even your $100 or whatever filter is still chump change.
Always order the best. It won't make a difference to the
budget and they'll feel better knowing they got you the
best out there so liability is no longer an issue. The
cost for even _looking_ at a lawyer is higher for them
than just buying you all that stuff at any market price. |
| 2001/4/8 [Reference/History/WW2] UID:20899 Activity:nil |
4/7 Sign the petition to end DST! http://www.standardtime.com |
| 2000/11/9-10 [Politics/Domestic, Reference/History/WW2] UID:19684 Activity:nil |
11/9 It's amazing how many political figures use the word "liberal"
interchangably with "communist freak". All you have to do is
look it up.
5 : BROAD-MINDED; especially : not bound by authoritarianism,
orthodoxy, or traditional forms
\_ Liberals in America are communist freaks. |
| 2000/10/21-11/16 [Recreation/Dating, Science/GlobalWarming, Reference/History/WW2] UID:19544 Activity:low |
10/20 What does "fu" mean? I see them sometimes on the motd.
\_ It's a chinese word.
\_ Fucked Up, as in FUBAR
\_ More commonly spelt as "foobar", so "fu" is analogous to "foo"
which I'm sure you'd be familiar with once you've taken enough
CS or psuedo-CS classes. FUBAR, fucked up beyond all recognition,
army term, like SNAFU, Situation Normal, All Fucked Up.
\_ See the Jargon File for complete info:
http://www.tf.hut.fi/cgi-bin/jargon?search=FUBAR
The short story, FUBAR comes from WWII (F'ed up beyond all
repair).
The long story, it was added to computing lexicon by dec guys,
and FOOBAR was made famous by RFC 1639.
\_ fu == foo!!?? No way!
\_ 'fu' has nothing at all to do with 'foo'. See below. -blojo
\_ Hungry, wasting sodans are talking about "food", but in order to
conserve energy only speak the first phoneme. IT wages are
tough to make a living on.
\_ knowledge of a subject.
\_ advanced ability in a particular technical field. Commonly
referred to as Expertise.
\_ as in kung fu
\_ "I know Kung FU!"
\_ "Show Me"
\_ Even Winnie the Pooh knows what "fu" means:
/csua/tmp/winniethepooh.mpg
\_ It's like Lucy in the sky with diamonds. -gwb
\_ That is just because you are Bush/Gore apologist who is
secretly in favor of communism/fascism. Admit it!
\_ No, this sodan just prefers motd sex/no-sex talk. Am I right?
\_ yup. poll for working post-school males with SO's: you:
a) knew your SO while in school or before:
b) met your SO after you started working :
c) found my SO in a lap dance bar in SF : |
| 2000/5/2 [Reference/History/WW2] UID:18153 Activity:nil |
5/1 Long Live the revolution!!
\_ You mean the revolution that left the winning side in poverty for
the past half century, and the losing side in relatively quite
better terms in economy and politics?
\_ That is becuase of the influence of pro-bourgeois forces
\_ Hi paolo!
\_ This is a good thing. All the wealth has been shared, what
little there is in communist/socialist nations.... |
| 1999/6/14-16 [Politics/Domestic/SocialSecurity, Reference/History/WW2] UID:15954 Activity:high |
6/13 Garbage's Version2.0 kicks ass! Are there any other albums out
there that I should check out? (i.e. not neccesarily by Garbage)
\_"happy hours, golden showers"
\_ 101 Incoherent Communist Drinking Songs, by Bryan Harvey
\_ Most people who think they're commies really don't know what
communism really is. Most people are really just egalitarianists
like John Locke. Communism is actually about achieving
industrialization through totalitarianism, mind control, and
ruthless beatings like what Stalin (and to some extent, those
McCarthy dipshits) did. At any rate, BH isn't a commie, no
matter how much he thinks he is (and neither is GNU or FSF).
\_ BH isn't a true Ruskie commie. They were smarter than that and
understood communism is a failure and *can't* work.
\_ Communism works. Disneyland is a communistic entity.
You pay for the rides you want to be on with time.
\_ idiot. communism works. ENFORCED communism doesn't.
\_ Silly. Communism is contrary to human nature. It only
works in text books and eco-political theory classes.
Where has your unenforced communism ever worked for a
substantial period of time? In fact, other than the drug
culture created sex oriented pseudo communes in the 60/70s
in this country I can't think of an unforced communist
community anywhere. It's non-functional. Put up or shut
up. And no, don't try to pin the counter point on me. I
never said I was in favor of free for all zero-control
capitalism. Where's your successful unenforced communist
state?
\_ works better on a smaller scale. like collective
businesses, co-op organizations. i have direct
experiene with this stuff. and yes, enforced
communism sucks ass and won't work. in recent human
experience, what's called communism has really been
a totalarian state - not a recipie for success in a
world with such global communications as today.
\_ saying "theres no country that does this, so
it doesn't work" is NOT a proof against it.
And your "against human nature" stuff is just as valid
for nixing welfare, charity tax credits,
\_ It was stated "communism works". Prove it. I'm
in favor of "nixing" welfare. What of it? Humans
in general are greedy and selfish and jealous
(like me and proud of it).
\_ welfare is so easy to hate when you're a
privlidged berkeley student. ++clue please.
\_ the opposing viewpoints are: 1) getting
shat on is a great motivator because there's
no welfare, vs. 2) you couldn't help it,
welfare is a safety net
\_ be sure to recognize the warning signs, kids!
\_ Yeah, like viewing the world as it is might
be a bad thing. Better to stay in the
\_ it's not (a bad thing)
Ivory Pot Sticker Tower Of Self Deluded
Stupidity. Get out those rosy glasses.
\_ prove communism doesn't work.
saying "china,USSR, etc failed at communism" is
like saying "The USA is a prime example of
why democrasy can never work".
None of the above countries are truely an
example of the policical scheme they claim
to be.
This is contrary to the needs of communism. Find
a few hundred thousand Saints and communism might
work. Personally, I've been trying to get Angels
to dance on the head of a pin which seems more
useful than trying to make a functional communist
state. So far, I've gotten as many as 8 Angels to
dance at the same time which is a better track
record than communism has. Still waiting to see
an example of working unenforced communism.
\_ INFIDEL!!! HERETIC!!1! I fondly remember taking
162 from bh. Especially those nights when we'd all
gather around the big, silent bulk of the PDP-10 in
the machine room, heads bowed to its greatness . . .
then bh would pour the vodka, and we'd munch on
potstickers and talk for _hours_ about the imminent
coming of the Glorious People's GNU-LISP Revolution
that would sweep like a cleansing wave! Some nights
we'd watch Animanics and listen to the Beatles until
dawn. Then we'd shatter our vodka glasses against
the wall and weave our way home, staggering up the
middle of Hearst singing Russian peasant drinking
songs . . . I didn't learn much about operating
systems, but damn, I learned about _life_.
\_ This always summed it up perfectly. Thanks.
\_ yes, whether communism works or not is less
important than the humor value it provides now
\_ on a kibutz where everyone agrees to be there communism
has worked!! The key is that the people involved must
agree to it. Your family could be considered a small
version of communism, one goal for all of you with a
common pot of money . . .
\_ family is a dictatorship, not communism. It IS
sort of socialism, though.
\_"Complete", Minor Threat
\_ URL please.
\_ let's get your login and froge a mail to BH!!
\_ That won't make communism work. Does he now
require his students to adopt his failed
philosophies to get an "A"? When I was in school
we only needed to eat pot stickers with him.
\_ Kinda makes you wish we live in a theoretical world.
There would be no physics problems left in that case.
\_ Oneida Community. Look it up.
\_ When did they release this album? I went looking for it on
amazon and cdnow, and couldn't find it . . .
\_ Wasn't this thread about a rock band? Anyways, someone should
buy "Looking Out for No. 1" by Robert J. Ringer and put it in the
CSUA library
\_ Their first album
\_ Cardigans' new album. It's not really anything like their one-hit,
Lovefool.
\_ I don't know what this "Garbage" is, but you should check out
"Don Ho Gold", by Don Ho. It's got *all* the hits! |
| 1998/11/1-3 [Reference/History/WW2] UID:14870 Activity:moderate |
11/1 What is the technical term for "wobbling axis of the earth's pole,
causing retreating and advancing of the ice repeatedly in the last
40,000 years?" I need to know for the geography class. THANKS!
\_ precession
Merriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary contains 2 items
relevant for "precession".
*
pre.ces.sion n [NL praecession-, praecessio, fr. ML, act of
preceding, fr. L praecedere to precede] (1879): a
comparatively slow gyration of the rotation axis of a
spinning body about another line intersecting it so as to
describe a cone -- pre.ces.sion.al adj
*
precession of the equinoxes (1621): a slow westward motion
of the equinoxes along the ecliptic caused by the
gravitational action of sun and moon upon the
protuberant matter about the earth's equator
\_ when the axis of a spinning body does not rotate about a
second axis, but rather wobbles, it is nutation, and the
body is said to nutate. I don't know if that's what the
earth does, i just know this term from physics.
body is said to nutate.
\_ Major glacial events in the Quaternary have coincided when
-the phases of axial tilt
-precession of equinoxes
-eccentricity of orbit
are all lined up to give the northern hemisphere the least amount
of summer insolation. We are currently at the stage where the
axial is tilting outward (earth can tilt as much as 26 degrees),
and it is a factor that is more likely to cause of global warming
than anything else. |
| 1998/5/12 [Reference/History/WW2] UID:14083 Activity:nil |
5/11 World War II Partners joined forces. Mercedes-Benz to buy
Nissan. New car will be named Axis. |
| 1998/5/1 [Science/GlobalWarming, Reference/History/WW2, Academia/Berkeley/CSUA] UID:14028 Activity:very high |
5/1 /- Join the CSUA Communist Party. Coders of the World Unite! -politburo
\_ bh is the ultimate commie.
\_ Long Live the CSUA Revolutionary International! |
| 1998/4/23 [Reference/History/WW2] UID:14001 Activity:nil 72%like:13994 |
4/21 _The Rape of Nanking_ is an excellent book.
\_ Where can I get it? Library?...
\_ http://www.amazon.com
\_ any decent bookstore should have it.
\_ Which one?
"The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II" or
\_ this one, by Iris Chang, they were showcasing on Sproul.
I know for sure that it is good.
"The Rape of Nanking: An Undeniable History in Photographs" ? |
| 12/24 |