Todd: Some clarifications of the article: Mountaineers who summit 8,000 meter peaks (death zones) without supplemental oxygen are: 1. freaks of nature with ridiculous V02 max (see Viestur’s “No shortcuts to the top”) 2. Lucky; note the case of Iñaki Ochoa de Olza. His records included climbing 12 of the world’s 14 tallest mountains without the aid of oxygen or oxygen tanks — and yet he died of HAPE (High Altitude Pulmonary Edema) on Annapurna. Thus, since no one is invicible...
J: He presents not a bit of evidence. Ask any old Dutch settler in Indonesia about the Japanese occupation.
Isegoria: I believe that Hashimoto’s contention is that the “comfort women” weren’t random Korean women forced into sex-slavery, but rather that they were Korean prostitutes organized into brothels meant to serve the army. And that has been standard practice throughout history.
Chris: Nice. I especially like the way he conflates Japan’s behavior with the normal sexual urges of all young men. Presumably the Japanese soldiers just got a bit carried away. Chalk it up to high spirits. I wonder what behavior he can link to the Japanese habit of using civilians for bayonet practice. This “everybody was doing it, more or less” is a bit more sophisticated than the old “just following orders” defense. It also resembles the favorite charge of good...
March Hare: Charming! And your “government” , sworn to uphold the rights of their citizens, are importing these savages by the gross. Why doesn’t a bunch of true Brits attack the guy? He’s only one sorry savage and could easily be taken down by a couple of men. Or, would that be considered a “hate crime” in the sorry land that once was an Empire?
Bruce Charlton: Certainly Britain would be better off if we were still ruled by the Britons of 50 years ago…
Space Nookie: See Soviet offensive plans controversy for a better article that doesn’t appeal to consensus. What is controversial about Suvorov is that he claims Stalin intended to attack on July 6, and that consequently Hitler’s June 22 invasion was justifiable as a preemptive strike. He makes other claims with a stronger factual basis, and it does leave you wondering why, exactly, Stalin had built such a powerful (on paper) army if it wasn’t for defensive purposes. Organizations miss...
Buckethead: Great, now we’ll have antibiotic-resistant back pain causing bacteria, too.
Isegoria: The consensus, for what it’s worth, seems to be that Suvorov overstates Stalin’s ability to launch an attack in 1941. That said, I have trouble imagining Stalin simply standing by as Germany wore itself down on the Western Front. The Allies would practically demand his entry, after all.
Space Nookie: There is a 1987 book, Icebreaker, by Viktor Suvorov, that goes into great detail about Stalin’s preparations for an attack on western Europe. Suvorov argues that Stalin intended for France and Germany to exhaust themselves in mutual combat — after which he would intervene. I find that a lot more plausible than the standard narrative where Stalin is basically neutral and disinterested until Hitler attacks him.
Isegoria, may you have a rational yet funny Christmas! ;-)
Thank you kindly, Borepatch. In fact, I’ll try to keep things rational yet funny into the New Year.
..and that’s why I come here often.
Happy coming New Year!
Happy New Year to you, too, Tatyana. (S Novim godom!)