Occasional Reader 8/6/2020 5:30:15 AM

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Good morning.

Trump 2020: Make America Normal Again

https://www.bookwormroom.com/2020/08/05/trump-2020-make-america-normal-again/

Occasional Reader 8/6/2020 5:53:08 AM

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buzzsawmonkey 8/6/2020 6:36:08 AM

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In #2 Occasional Reader said: August 6, 1945 was a “mostly peaceful” day in Hiroshima.

NPR was going nuts about how "criminal" use of the A-bomb was, how it was wrong to "target civilians," and was flat-out lying about there being no warnings to the residents of Hiroshima (there were, but of course that does little good when one is living in a dictatorship that restricts its citizens' movements).

As always, I recommend the antidote: Paul Fussell's excellent essay, Thank God for the Atom Bomb.

PaladinPhil 8/6/2020 7:06:34 AM

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Reply to buzzsawmonkey in 3:

It has been said that the atom bomb has given us 75 years of "peace". Sure there still have been wars and conflicts, just not at the same level as WW1 or WW2. 

lucius septimius 8/6/2020 7:10:33 AM

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Reply to buzzsawmonkey in 3:

Were it not for the bomb, I would likely not be here.  Moral dilemma solved.

PaladinPhil 8/6/2020 7:10:41 AM

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JCM 8/6/2020 7:12:39 AM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 2:

Did somebody do something?

buzzsawmonkey 8/6/2020 7:18:06 AM

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In #4 PaladinPhil said: It has been said that the atom bomb has given us 75 years of "peace". Sure there still have been wars and conflicts, just not at the same level as WW1 or WW2. 

My father and my uncle both helped to build the first atomic pile at Chicago, and worked on the Project.  My uncle signed the atomic-scientist plea for "international control" of the atom bomb; my father did not.

Some thirty years ago, when there was a big anti-A-bomb demo in Central Park, my youngest cousin from that side of the family came in from Madison, WI to participate, and we got together after the Big Demo, and before her moonbat bus left to take her back.  I told her that the atom bomb was the second-greatest force for world peace (the H-bomb, which has never yet been used in anger, being the first), because it had limited the Cold War to proxy conflicts instead of all-out war.  She had never thought of it that way.

buzzsawmonkey 8/6/2020 7:35:08 AM

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buzzsawmonkey 8/6/2020 7:37:53 AM

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JCM 8/6/2020 7:39:10 AM

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Reply to buzzsawmonkey in 8:

I like to point out that it has been been 75 years since Hiroshima.

Compare the 75 years before and after. Overall deaths due to conflict are a fraction of what they were. There have been no major conflicts between nations.

Occasional Reader 8/6/2020 7:53:38 AM

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In #3 buzzsawmonkey said: NPR was going nuts about how "criminal" use of the A-bomb was

Of course, because they hate this country.

As for your recommended antidote: Bill Whittle also has a very well-made video about that topic, as well.  

Occasional Reader 8/6/2020 7:54:19 AM

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In #5 lucius septimius said: Were it not for the bomb, I would likely not be here. 

Well, sure, but the A-bomb had positive results as well. 

/

vxbush 8/6/2020 7:57:33 AM

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In #13 Occasional Reader said: Well, sure, but the A-bomb had positive results as well. 

You take that back!

JCM 8/6/2020 7:57:51 AM

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Reply to buzzsawmonkey in 3:

So NPR, the deaths of 6 million Japanese troops, the deaths of 5 to 20 million Japanese civilians and 400,000 U.S soldiers was preferable? 

Occasional Reader 8/6/2020 7:57:59 AM

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In #6 PaladinPhil said: Don't know if anyone else knew this, but the majority of uranium used for the Manhattan Project actually came from the Congo. Just learned that today. 

Also, IIRC, technically speaking, Canada was, for a while, a nuclear-armed power, since the Canadian government had independent launch authority under the NORAD arrangement, or something of the sort.  

buzzsawmonkey 8/6/2020 8:01:51 AM

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NPR's take on the 75th anniversary of Hiroshima.

You can read the transcript if you don't have the time or stomach for the sound clip.

vxbush 8/6/2020 8:02:44 AM

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In #12 Occasional Reader said: As for your recommended antidote: Bill Whittle also has a very well-made video about that topic, as well.  

Ages and Ages ago I read Stanislaus Ulam's book about being a mathematician in the midst of making the bomb, but I don't recall any specifics. Bother. 

Occasional Reader 8/6/2020 8:07:40 AM

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In #15 JCM said: So NPR, the deaths of 6 million Japanese troops, the deaths of 5 to 20 million Japanese civilians and 400,000 U.S soldiers was preferable? 

The Japanese government was issuing bamboo spears to civilians in order to fight the invading Americans.  Gosh, i wonder how that would have worked out? 

buzzsawmonkey 8/6/2020 8:09:31 AM

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Reply to vxbush in 18:

My father and my uncle both got lithographs which commemorated the building of the first atomic pile.  The ink on the lithographs contained graphite from the pile.  I don't remember seeing it when we sold off the contents of the house.

I do love the coded telegram that Fermi sent General Groves when the first test of the pile was successful; it would send our little antifettes of today into a tizzy:  "The Italian navigator has landed on the shores of the new world."

Occasional Reader 8/6/2020 8:13:35 AM

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In #20 buzzsawmonkey said: the first atomic pile.

Atomic piles then led directly to the development of the Hydrogen Bomb, or "Preparation H" as it was codenamed... 

(Chief effects of the bomb on a target:  The burning... and the itching) 

PaladinPhil 8/6/2020 8:19:08 AM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 16:

We had I believe BOMARC missiles based in the arctic for a brief period before the Liberal government sent them back. Was a controversial decision when they were emplaced and when they were removed.

Occasional Reader 8/6/2020 8:23:23 AM

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"I am not a communist", asserts a shortlisted Dem VP candidate to a friendly press.

buzzsawmonkey 8/6/2020 8:26:22 AM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 23:

Joe's goin' fishin' to catch a largemouth Bass?

JCM 8/6/2020 8:27:22 AM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 23:

So what are you? Marxist, Leninist, Stalinist, Maoist?

Occasional Reader 8/6/2020 8:35:01 AM

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In #25 JCM said: So what are you? Marxist, Leninist, Stalinist, Maoist?

Given that Biden the Biden campaign is apparently being forced to pick a "person of color", at all costs, I'd say they're being Mao-Mao'd. 

lucius septimius 8/6/2020 8:36:12 AM

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In #20 buzzsawmonkey said: atomic pile

That sounds really painful.

vxbush 8/6/2020 8:39:37 AM

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In #26 Occasional Reader said: Given that Biden the Biden campaign is apparently being forced to pick a "person of color", at all costs, I'd say they're being Mao-Mao'd. 

Given that Clyburn is in charge of his campaign, I'm assuming the choice was his. 

lucius septimius 8/6/2020 8:42:25 AM

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In #26 Occasional Reader said: Given that Biden the Biden campaign is apparently being forced to pick a "person of color", at all costs, I'd say they're being Mao-Mao'd. 

As someone said here the other day, Biden is Paul von Hindenburg -- old, dottering, useless.  The real question is who the little corporal will be.

lucius septimius 8/6/2020 8:43:44 AM

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Occasional Reader 8/6/2020 8:44:18 AM

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In #29 lucius septimius said: As someone said here the other day, Biden is Paul von Hindenburg

That was I.  That was me.  That was the author of this post.

/hat tip: Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

(And, as i think both buzz and I more or less simultaneously noted, George Floyd is Horst Wessel.) 

Occasional Reader 8/6/2020 8:46:44 AM

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buzzsawmonkey 8/6/2020 8:49:11 AM

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Why does the Left, every year, wring its hands over the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

Because "disproportionate response!" Because "people of color!", i.e., "racism." Because even if WWII was "the good war" because it killed those nasty Nazis that opposed the Communists, it stopped being "the good war" once the Nazis surrendered, because then we were fighting "people of color."

Occasional Reader 8/6/2020 8:57:49 AM

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Reply to buzzsawmonkey in 33:

The "Greater Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere" is exactly the sort of idea today's Western left would support wholeheartedly. 

Occasional Reader 8/6/2020 8:59:38 AM

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lucius septimius 8/6/2020 9:03:06 AM

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Reply to buzzsawmonkey in 33:

Given the ties between leading Dems and Epstein, they probably would have been all over the idea of "Comfort Women."

Occasional Reader 8/6/2020 9:05:20 AM

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In #36 lucius septimius said: Given the ties between leading Dems and Epstein, they probably would have been all over the idea of "Comfort Women."

More like Comfort Girls, of course. 

buzzsawmonkey 8/6/2020 9:11:09 AM

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In #35 Occasional Reader said: the Beirut blast

A naked display of Beirut force...

JCM 8/6/2020 9:15:15 AM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 35:

It's up there with the SS Grandcamp in Texas City in '47 and the Halifax '17.

Occasional Reader 8/6/2020 9:16:43 AM

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In #38 buzzsawmonkey said: A naked display of Beirut force...

Indeed.  Have you seen any of the various circulating videos of the thing?  They really are quite astounding (and some, deeply sad, since it seems likely that the person/people making the video did not survive). 

JCM 8/6/2020 9:27:07 AM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 40:

Occasional Reader 8/6/2020 9:33:02 AM

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Reply to JCM in 41:

Am I wrong in wishing that Antifa had been holding a Global Conference at the fabulous Beirut Waterfront Conference Center? 

JCM 8/6/2020 9:46:11 AM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 42:

That would be just too bad......

buzzsawmonkey 8/6/2020 10:39:41 AM

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Occasional Reader 8/6/2020 10:40:07 AM

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buzzsawmonkey 8/6/2020 11:04:28 AM

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Imagine there's no police
It's easy if you try
Give criminals your wallet
If you don't, you will die
Imagine all the street thieves
Taking things away...

Imagine there's no law enforcement
It isn't hard to do 
When mayors reject their duties
And let thugs prey on you
Imagine utter urban chaos
Worsening day to day

You may think that's a nightmare
And you're not the only one
But elected Democrats
Think it's all just good clean fun...

lucius septimius 8/6/2020 11:51:14 AM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 45:

Planning to get shot out of a cannon?

Occasional Reader 8/6/2020 12:08:37 PM

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In #47 lucius septimius said: Planning to get shot out of a cannon?

Not anytime soon.

Two purposes for this:

1) I want to have everything I need in case I have to exfil my way out of a riot-stricken area.  Hence this, my aforementioned new gas mask, and laser-proof eyewear, etc.  Thinking about, ah, Election Day and thereafter, in particular.

2) Further down the road, I'd like to take more advanced shooting classes, perhaps up to and including something like a "shoot house"; in which case, this could be a good piece of safety equipment. 

Occasional Reader 8/6/2020 12:21:45 PM

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Joe Biden lays out his thoughtful, deliberative China policy. 

vxbush 8/6/2020 1:00:52 PM

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In #48 Occasional Reader said: Thinking about, ah, Election Day and thereafter, in particular.

There have been people in the computer security sector who are suggesting that Things™ might happen on or just after election day. I am trying to figure out how to make sure we are covered. 

buzzsawmonkey 8/6/2020 1:25:12 PM

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Friend of mine is talking to his doctor about the availability of hydroxychloroquine in Illinois, should one need it for covid treatment; the doctor said that the availability was "tricky."

If anyone has links to particularly good studies/papers that support HCQ treatment, please post them here so I can forward them to him.

buzzsawmonkey 8/6/2020 1:43:29 PM

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OK, this is just weird.  

There's a little-girl troll doll being marketed by Hasbro which makes sounds/says things if you touch its tummy, but there's also a button on the troll's crotch, between its legs, which is not mentioned on the box, and which makes little gasping quasi-sexual noises when it is pressed.  

Parents are apparently claiming that the toy promotes sexual abuse, and demanding that Hasbro withdraw this toy.

vxbush 8/6/2020 1:55:02 PM

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Reply to buzzsawmonkey in 51:

Before the American Frontline Doctor's group was taken down, I downloaded their summary of the research on hydroxychloroquine. I have the PDF, but the original source site was removed. I can email that to you. Do I have your address?  

PaladinPhil 8/6/2020 1:55:14 PM

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Reply to buzzsawmonkey in 52:

The placement of the "button" and the sounds made when pushed does go to someone being either tone deaf or other reasons. Definitely not thought out when designed.

vxbush 8/6/2020 1:55:58 PM

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In #53 vxbush said: Before the American Frontline Doctor's group was taken down, I downloaded their summary of the research on hydroxychloroquine. I have the PDF, but the original source site was removed. I can email that to you. Do I have your address?  

Well, let me rephrase that; some of it is summary. Most of it is the actual research docs themselves, all bundled in one giant PDF. 

buzzsawmonkey 8/6/2020 2:02:29 PM

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Reply to vxbush in 53: Reply to vxbush in 55:

You can send it to my nic at gmail.com.

vxbush 8/6/2020 2:05:14 PM

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Reply to buzzsawmonkey in 51:

Another source is at PJMedia.

vxbush 8/6/2020 2:07:16 PM

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Reply to buzzsawmonkey in 56:

On its way.

buzzsawmonkey 8/6/2020 2:25:22 PM

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Reply to vxbush in 58:Reply to vxbush in 57:

Thanks! Forwarded.

JCM 8/6/2020 2:46:51 PM

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buzzsawmonkey 8/6/2020 3:17:39 PM

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"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." 
---attributed to George Orwell

People sleep uneasily in their beds at night only because incompetent public servants stand ready to cave to violent thugs.

Kosh's Shadow 8/6/2020 3:45:21 PM

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In #22 PaladinPhil said: We had I believe BOMARC missiles based in the arctic for a brief period befBOMAore the Liberal government sent them back. Was a controversial decision when they were emplaced and when they were removed.

BOMARC was an anti-aircraft (specifically, anti-bomber) missile

lucius septimius 8/6/2020 4:21:38 PM

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buzzsawmonkey 8/6/2020 4:24:22 PM

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In #63 lucius septimius said: A young hawk has moved in -- he seems to have taken over the territory of the one that had been dominant for the last 20 years.  I was watching him fly the circuit of boundary trees, followed by two female blue jays who were giving him shit the entire time.  Flying Karens.

I saw a large hawk last weekend on a tree in Prospect Park.  He was magnificent.

Kosh's Shadow 8/6/2020 4:38:34 PM

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Reply to buzzsawmonkey in 46:
+++++++++++++++

JCM 8/6/2020 4:52:57 PM

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Reply to buzzsawmonkey in 64:

A couple nights ago had a huge owl, 2 feet tall, sitting on my shed at dusk.