#william d leahy

[araiz-zaria]

Monopoly Night on the new year's eve?? 🤣

[denimbex1986]

'By now, we’ve all pretty much seen Oppenheimer, either by itself or as part of Barbenheimer mania, and the Christopher Nolan movie is being touted as his best yet by critics and audiences everywhere. Much has been said about it in the way of its seemingly progressive stance on the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the cruelty of the U.S. Military, and J. Robert Oppenheimer’s own complicated morality.

But is it really that progressive? Not really. As we’ve written before, many Japanese people were already pretty uncomfortable with the film. It leaves out crucial information about WW2 conditions between Japan and the United States that makes an otherwise unambiguous historical event muddled with contradictions.

Make no mistake: The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was willful genocide against a non-white population. We have ample historical evidence to back this up. According to Foreign Policy (and as mentioned in the film), Japan was on the cusp of surrender anyway. Resource-starved and up against multiple enemies (the Soviets were pushing aggressively), the Japanese government was only against unconditional surrender, as it meant Japan becoming colonized by Western powers (which happened anyway after the war).

Some higher-ups were also against the bomb. William D. Leahy, who was an American naval officer at the time, wrote in his memoir I Was There, “It is my opinion that the use of this barbarous weapon at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was of no material assistance in our war against Japan. The Japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender because of the effective sea blockade and the successful bombing with conventional weapons.” According to Origins at Ohio State University, Dwight D. Eisenhower was firmly against the bomb, writing to Secretary of War Henry Stimson in July 1945, “First, the Japanese were ready to surrender, and it wasn’t necessary to hit them with that awful thing. Second, I hated to see our country be the first to use such a weapon.”

Despite all of this, there are still way too many people clinging hard to the myth that the Japanese deserved the nukes. What’s so frustrating about the film Oppenheimer is that it hardly cares about this part of history. At most, the argument against using the bombs in the film is presented as a brief line or two, particularly when Oppenheimer says, “We bombed a defeated enemy.”

In contrast, there are numerous arguments in favor of the bomb that aren’t given proper rebuttal. Oppenheimer shuts down the idea of a measly demonstration blast, opting instead for the total annihilation of a city. What follows is a series of logical assumptions and risk-aversion, like the possibility of the bomb being a dud or the Japanese shooting the plane down. These counter-arguments are given the weight of reason and science and exist in ample number throughout the film. The few arguments against this are all framed haphazardly as an appeal to emotion, and in a film glamorizing science and discovery, empathy is the underdog.

As Mother Jones points out, many of the objections to the bomb that existed back in the 1940s are non-existent on screen. When one of President Harry Truman’s advisers raises doubt and concern about using such a weapon, he is immediately shut down and told that the Japanese won’t ever surrender. Nolan relies on the tragedy of a single scientist as the film’s only meager criticism of the bombing, someone who was “just doing his job.” But this isn’t enough. We need more than Cillian Murphy’s thousand-yard stare for such an incredibly sensitive historical event.

The film is more interested in making a victim of Oppenheimer, a martyr fraught with guilt over his actions. In reality, he was much closer to that of a spoiled rich kid who didn’t do much to reckon with his sins. As Vox writes, Oppenheimer spent much of his days enjoying a cushy director job at the Institute for Advanced Study, along with more than enough money and land to do with in one lifetime. Oppenheimer’s brother, Frank Oppenheimer, devoted his life to activism to a degree that J. Robert never did.

The focus of sympathy is entirely through the eyes of a wealthy white man. Viewers are not privy to the internal lives of the Japanese, nor do you play witness to the mass murder of them. In what is arguably the most haunting moment of the film, Oppenheimer gives a victory speech before a crowd of Americans, after the bombs have been dropped. He says, “If only we’d had it ready in time to use on the Germans,” the sound cuts out to silence, a single scream breaks through the room, and everything turns to white light. The people before him start turning to ash.

It’s a horrifying image; he has woken a monster and there’s no turning back. One problem: It wasn’t white Americans who were subjected to nuclear annihilation. The great failure of this scene is shifting attention from the fascist war crime just committed on foreign land to the idea of “this could happen to white people someday.” It’s a common sleight-of-hand done by white directors who prioritize the emotions of whiteness over the brutalization of the other. This limited view was somewhat baked into Oppenheimer from the start, with Christopher Nolan even writing the screenplay in the first person from Oppenheimer’s point of view. While that specificity of focus may explain (and to some viewers, justify) some of the limitations, it’s still worth critiquing Nolan’s choice that this story should be told, by him, from this perspective.

Many people have taken the film’s ruthless portrayal of McCarthy-era U.S. government as proof of critique, but this is complicated. The average film viewer can accept two “truths” at once: McCarthyist witch hunts are wrong, and Japan wasn’t going to surrender. There is no natural cause-and-effect linking human rights violations to the nukes in the film. Those who buy into this myth are probably against McCarthyism, segregation, and disenfranchisement. That’s why it’s the responsibility of the director to take extra care when making stories about history.

The film does not take this responsibility, nor does it shake the central narrative that dominates the frame. Oppenheimer’s personal struggle during his security clearance hearings does nothing to fight back against the message of “the bomb was terrible but necessary.” Ask yourself this: Why are we more concerned with the feelings of those who helped America do unspeakably horrible war crimes than the actual victims?

And this, perhaps, might be a failure of form. Biopics centered around the instigators, with their stories told by white men, are hardly the best vehicle to tell a story of imperial bloodlust and genocide. There’s no room for anything but the internal demons of “great” white men.'

[workingclasshistory]

On this day, 6 August 1945, the US dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, slaughtering tens of thousands of civilians, despite many military and government officials believing it was unnecessary. Numerous senior US military officers confirmed that the bombing was not needed to defeat Japan, and indeed that Japan was attempting to surrender. General Dwight D. Eisenhower explained: "Japan was at the moment seeking some way to surrender with minimum loss of 'face'. It wasn't necessary to hit them with that awful thing." Admiral William D. Leahy, former chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff stated "that the use of this barbarous weapon at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was of no material assistance in our war against Japan. The Japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender. My own feeling was that in being the first to use it, we had adopted an ethical standard common to the barbarians of the Dark Ages. I was taught not to make war in that fashion, and wars cannot be won by destroying women and children." And the US Strategic Bombing Survey determined that "Japan would have surrendered even if the atomic bombs had not been dropped, even if Russia had not entered the war, and even if no invasion had been planned or contemplated." Elements within the Japanese government had been attempting to arrange a surrender, while maintaining the institution of the emperor, which possessed important religious significance. The US meanwhile was insisting on an unconditional surrender, but even though this was the only supposed barrier to peace, the US allowed Japan to maintain the emperor after the surrender anyway. Faced with criticism of the mass-killing of civilians, some US officials concocted a narrative that the bombs were used to avoid a land invasion of Japan which would have cost more lives. However, this story was only fabricated in 1947, after the war had already ended. More likely was that the US wanted to send a strong message to Russia before the cold war began. https://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.296224173896073/2051125201739286/?type=3

[ulkaralakbarova]

Both dumped by their girlfriends, two best friends seek refuge in the local mall. Eventually, they decide to try and win back their significant others and take care of their respective nemeses. Credits: TheMovieDb. Film Cast: Rene: Shannen Doherty T.S. Quint: Jeremy London Brodie: Jason Lee Brandi: Claire Forlani Shannon: Ben Affleck Gwen: Joey Lauren Adams Tricia: Renée Humphrey Silent Bob: Kevin Smith Jay: Jason Mewes Willam: Ethan Suplee Stan Lee: Stan Lee Ivannah: Priscilla Barnes Svenning: Michael Rooker La Fours: Sven-Ole Thorsen Security Guard: Carol Banker Arresting Cop #2: Steven Blackwell Pull Toy Kid: Kyle Boe TV Executive #1: David Brinkley Fan Boy: Walt Flanagan Guy Contestant #1: Ethan Flower Girl with Easter Bunny: Chelsea Frye TV Executive #2 – Bentley Garrison: Jeff Gadbois Guy Contestant #2: Ed Hapstak Cop #1: Terry Hempleman Game Show Host: Art James Steve Dave: Bryan Johnson Child at Kiosk #2: Mikey Kovar Fan at Comic Store: David Klein Roddy: Scott Mosier Saleslady at Lingerie Store: Crystal Muirhead-Manik Kid at Poster Kiosk: Tyson Nassauer Gill: Brian O’Halloran Passerby in Parking Lot: Aaron Preusse Child at Kiosk #1: Britt Swenson Teacher: Mary Woolever Team La Fours: Brad Fox Team La Fours: Gino Gori Team La Fours: Zach Perkins Team La Fours: Brad Giddings Team La Fours: Bryce Mack Team La Fours: Christopher O’Larkin Audience Member (uncredited): Earl R. Burt Shopper (uncredited): Tammara Melloy Screaming Girl in Audience (uncredited): Rachel Oliva Shoobie Shake Girl (uncredited): Jessica Sibinski Comic Book Fan (uncredited): Joel Thingvall Film Crew: Supervising Sound Editor: Richard LeGrand Jr. Producer: Sean Daniel Producer: James Jacks Thanks: John Hughes Supervising Music Editor: J.J. George Casting: Don Phillips Writer: Kevin Smith Stunts: Phil Chong Producer: Scott Mosier Stunts: Sven-Ole Thorsen Stunt Coordinator: Robert Apisa Director of Photography: David Klein Original Music Composer: Ira Newborn Editor: Paul Dixon Production Design: Dina Lipton Executive Producer: Caldecot Chubb ADR Mixer: Alan Holly Set Decoration: Diana Stoughton Line Producer: Laura Greenlee Stunts: Chuck Zito Production Supervisor: Beth DePatie Post Production Supervisor: Terra Abroms Foley Artist: Joan Rowe Stunts: Carl Ciarfalio Sound Effects Editor: Charles Maynes ADR Editor: Bob McNabb Makeup Artist: Toni G Main Title Designer: Mike Allred Executive In Charge Of Production: Donna Smith First Assistant Director: Fernando Altschul Stunts: Eric D. Howell Casting Assistant: Ethan Flower Script Supervisor: Carol Banker Second Assistant Director: Louis Shaw Milito Sound Re-Recording Mixer: Michael C. Casper Set Costumer: Roseanne Fiedler Costume Supervisor: Dana Kay Hart Foley Artist: Diane Marshall Sound Re-Recording Mixer: Daniel J. Leahy Location Manager: Ralph B. Meyer Sound Designer: Harry E. Snodgrass Key Makeup Artist: Brigette A. Myre Foley Mixer: James Bolt Sound Editor: William Hooper Sound Recordist: Charlie Ajar Jr. Sound Editor: William Jacobs Costume Design: Dana Allyson Music Supervisor: Kathy Nelson Color Timer: Dennis McNeill Title Designer: Dan Perri Orchestrator: Don Nemitz Stunts: Jake Crawford Prosthetic Makeup Artist: Crist Ballas Supervising ADR Editor: Norval D. Crutcher III Assistant Sound Editor: Samuel Webb Negative Cutter: Gary Burritt Assistant Sound Editor: Michelle Pleis Boom Operator: Anton Herbert Production Coordinator: Lisa Bradley Music Supervisor: Jeff Saltzman First Assistant Editor: Richard J. Rossi Location Manager: Bob Medcraft Art Direction: Sue Savage Cableman: Matthew Magrattan Second Second Assistant Director: Shari Nicotero Assistant Editor: Paul Kieran Hairstylist: Sherry Heart Sound Mixer: Jose Araujo Casting Associate: Dee Dee Wehle Assistant Editor: Elisa Cohen Hair Assistant: Kristin Mosier Movie Reviews: JPV852: Only the second time seeing this (last was probably in the early 2000s on DVD) and thought it was okay but guess like others, this has grown on me. Laughed throughout even when the dialogue wasn’t the greatest, but I have an appreciation...

[newswireml]

Departing Senate budget chiefs leave a legacy of bipartisanship in a fraught era : NPR#Departing #Senate #budget #chiefs #leave #legacy #bipartisanship #fraught #era #NPR

Departing Senate budget chiefs leave a legacy of bipartisanship in a fraught era : NPR#Departing #Senate #budget #chiefs #leave #legacy #bipartisanship #fraught #era #NPR

Sens. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., right, and Richard Shelby, R-Ala., worked together as the chairperson and ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Committee respectively on getting the spending bill through Congress. Both men are retiring from Congress. Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images Sens. Patrick…

[frontproofmedia]

Massive Saturday For Split-T Management as Teofimo Lopez Takes over New York

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Published: December 10, 2022

Ebanie Bridges Defends IBF Bantamweight Title in Leeds

Tiger Johnson Fights at Madison Square Garden

NEW YORK -Split-T Management fighters will dominate the boxing world on Saturday as former undisputed lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez takes on Sandor Martin in a WBC Elimination bout at Madison Square Garden. Earlier in the day, IBF Bantamweight champion Ebanie Bridges makes the first defense of her title when she takes on Shannon O'Connell. If that wasn't enough, 2020 United States Olympian Tiger Johnson will kick off the festivities at Madison Square Garden when he battles Mike Ohan Jr. in an eight-round junior middleweight bout.

Lopez will be looking to take a big step towards becoming a two-division world champion when he takes on the upset-specialist Martin. The bout will headline in what has become Lopez's annual fight night at the Garden that follows the Heisman Trophy presentation on ESPN.

Lopez of Las Vegas, by way of Brooklyn, is 17-1 with 13 knockouts. The 25-year-old is one of the most popular and charismatic pugilists in the sport. He has become a staple fighting at The Garden on Heisman night. He stopped Mason Menard in the opening round in 2018, and In 2019, Lopez knocked out Richard Commey in two rounds to win the IBF Lightweight title.

On October 17, 2020, Lopez won a 12-round unanimous decision over Vasiliy Lomachenko to capture the undisputed Lightweight title. Lopez made his super lightweight debut on August 13th by stopping Pedro Campa in seven rounds in Las Vegas.

Martin of Barcelona, Spain, has a very impressive mark of 40-2 with 13 knockouts. Martin has impressive wins over Daniel Rosilla Colaso (25-4-2), Ignacio Mendoza (38-8-2), Sanuele Esposito (19-2), Steve Jamoye (19-1-1), Valentyn Golovko (22-1), Mauro Godoy (30-3-1), Joe Hughes (17-4-1) and Kay Prospere (14-1-1).

On October 16, 2021, Martin shocked former four-division world champion, Mikey Garcia, by winning a 10-round majority decision,

In his last bout, Martin won a 10-round unanimous decision over former world title challenger Jose Felix on April 1st in Barcelona, Spain.

At Friday's weigh-in, Lopez weighed 139.2 lbs. Martin was 139.8 lbs.

Lopez is promoted by Top Rank.

The fight can be seen live on ESPN at 9 PM ET.

In Leeds, England, Bridges, and O'Connell meet in a fight between Australian bantamweights.

Bridges of New South Wales, Australia, is 8-1 with three knockouts. The 36-year-old won the IBF Bantamweight title with a 10-round unanimous decision over Maria Cecilia Roman on March 26th in Leeds.

O'Connell, 39, of Queensland, Australia, is 23-6-1 with 11 knockouts. She has wins over Nareele Leahy (1-0). Gabisile Tshabalala (8-0-1), Edina Kiss (10-1), Bianca Elmie (3-0), Kylie Fulmer (7-0), Cherneka Johnson (13-0), Taylah Robinson (3-0) and her last bout when she stropped Sarah Higginson in the opening round on June 29th in Queensland.

Bridges was 117.75 lbs, while O'Connell was 117.35 lbs at Friday's weigh-in.

Bridges is promoted by Matchroom Boxing.

The fight is streamed by DAZN at 2 PM ET.

Johnson of Cleveland, Ohio, is 6-0 with four knockouts. The 24-year-old Johnson will be making his sixth start of 2022. With wins of Xavier Madrid (3-0) and Esteban Garcia (15-3-1), Johnson has made himself one of the emerging prospects in the sport. Even though He continues to fight top competition

Saturday, he takes on Ohan of Holbrook, Massachusetts. Ohan is 16-1 with nine knockouts. He has a signature win over undefeated Ryan Dibartolomeo. Ohan has won seven straight, which includes his last outing that took place on August 6th when he defeated Jonathan Ariel Sosa

Johnson weighed 141 lbs. Ohan was 141.6 lbs.

(Featured Photo: Mikey Williams/Top Rank via Getty Images)

[goalhofer]

Famous 1959 deaths.

Cecil B. DeMille (American movie director & producer), 77

Dr. Frances McGill (Canadian forensic pathologist), 76

Carl Switzer (American child actor & singer), 31

Capt. MacGillivray Milne (American navy captain & governor of American Samoa), 76

Walter Beall (American baseball player), 59

Frank Shannon (Irish-American actor & writer), 84

Charles Holley aka Charles “Buddy” Holly (American singer & songwriter)(pictured), 22

J.P. Richardson; Jr. aka The Big Bopper (American guitarist & songwriter), 28

Ritchie Valenzuela aka Ritchie Valens (American guitarist & singer), 17

Vincent Astor (American businessman), 67

Nap Lajoie (American baseball player), 84

Helen Parrish (American actress), 35

Eric Blore (British actor & writer), 71

Lou Cristillo aka Lou Costello (American comedian & actor), 52

Fred Stone (American actor), 85

Edwin Balmer (American writer), 75

The Blessed Fr. Dominik Trčka (Czech Catholic priest), 72

Granville “Grant” Withers (American actor), 54

Rear Adm. Reginald R. Belknap (American admiral), 87

The Blessed Fr. Nicholas Charnetsky (Ukrainian Catholic priest), 75

Archbishop Marios Makrionitis (Greek Catholic archbishop), 45

Frank Wright (American architect), 91

James Gleason (American actor & playwright), 76

The Blessed María Guggiari Echeverría (Paraguayan professed religious), 34

Troy Sanders (American composer), 57

Vice Adm. William S. Pye (American admiral), 78

Cardinal Georges-François-Xavier-Marie Grente (French  Catholic cardinal), 87

Ed Walsh (American baseball player), 78

George Reeves (American actor), 45

Grock (Swiss-Italian clown), 79

Friar Dr. Agostino Gemelli (Italian friar and doctor), 81

Billie Holiday (American singer)(pictured), 44

Fleet Adm. William D. Leahy (American admiral), 84

Charles “Heinie” Conklin (American actor & comedian), 73

Mother St. María Natividad Venegas De La Torre (Mexican Catholic nun & saint), 90

The Blessed Bishop Ioan Bălan (Romanian Catholic bishop), 79

Fr. Luigi Sturzo (Italian Catholic priest), 87

Fleet Adm. William Halsey; Jr. (American admiral), 76

Archbishop Alexander Evreinov (Russian Catholic archbishop), 82

Edmund Gwenn (British actor), 81

Wayne Morris (American actor), 45

Taylor Holmes (American actor), 81

De Benneville “Bert” Bell (American NFL commissioner), 64

Gen. George C. Marshall; Jr. (American general & secretary of defense)(pictured), 78

Cardinal Federico Tedeschini (Italian Catholic cardinal), 86

Victor McLaglen (British-American boxer and actor), 72

Archbishop Joseph Charbonneau (Canadian Catholic archbishop), 66

Archbishop Juozapas Skvireckas (Soviet-Austrian Catholic archbishop), 86

Charlie Hall (British-American actor), 60

Jim Bottomley (American baseball player), 59

Russell Simpson (American actor), 79

[thesociologicalcinema]

British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt, and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin met at the Yalta conference in February, 1945. The leaders discussed their joint occupation of Germany and plans for postwar Europe. Behind them stand, from the left, Field Marshal Sir Alan Brooke, Fleet Admiral Ernest King, Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy, General of the Army George Marshall, Major General Laurence S. Kuter, General Aleksei Antonov, Vice Admiral Stepan Kucherov, and Admiral of the Fleet Nikolay Kuznetsov. February 1945.

Photo credit: U.S. Army

[carbone14]

Winston Churchill, Franklin Delano Roosevelt et Joseph Staline à la conférence de Yalta - Station balnéaire de Yalta – Crimée – Février 1945

Photographe officiel américain

©National Archives and Records Administration - 531340

Derrière, depuis la gauche vers la droite, Field Marshal Sir Alan Brooke, Amiral Ernest King, Amiral William D. Leahy, Général d'Armée George Marshall, Major Général Laurence S. Kuter, Général Aleksei Antonov, Vice-amiral Stepan Kucherov, et Amiral Nikolay Kuznetsov.

[skippyv20]

Dear Skippy, I haven’t done one in a long time and appreciate that there are mush bigger concerns out there.  However, for my own fun and maybe anothers enjoyment, here is a riddle interpretation made with Love and Humour.  No offence taken if it doesn’t fit the blog feeling nowadays :)  Thank you MM Anon and as always my love to you Skippy and Mr Skippy, I hope your whole family is well, furry members too.  LH Anon XX

MM ANON ………… M&H&K ………… 100,000………… a bit Leahy …………

Big news, me ‘and Hazza’….. Wait, Kevin?… I call him K…. … I mean…. Hang on, what is the name of that guy I had a ceremony with  a couple of years ago?  Did you see it?  It was F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S.  I got to see PR pictures of SO many amazing famous people who apparently came along, AND walk past them as I hoofed it up the aisle towards whatshisname.  They were practically worshipping me, I had to go back to Scoobys couch after but I know they liked all their own pictures on Insta of the day so that means they wanted to meet me properly.  There were some folk there that I didn’t know, all on one side of the building, was it a church?  I think so, very musty. Anyway, you get the gist, it was my day and they made me a dress the night before but I wish I could remember the name of that buff guy up by the man in his robes, was it William….?  My point is that I have an AMAZING new shop opening soon, called M&H&K which is one initial better than that place those british people like to go to.  I win.  I’ve invited 100,000 lucky people, randomly selected from the phone book to the opening.  They will all come, it will be amazing, I have stock, I sell print outs from my home PC, the home me and that guy bought, photos of me, personally photoshopped and autographed in sugar ink.  I have one ‘maybe’ RSVP, love you Leah xx

” Laptop” dancing …………… two dogs………… 

Social media has fact checked the account of a ‘B & G Markle’ who courted controversy recently claiming to be the canine companions of a Ms M Markle and in dire need of love and care.  The fundraising was in the form of a pay per view of the doggies ‘dancing provocatively’.  With their tails wagging, so their bottoms were a’ swaying and some concerned PC minded citizens had Twitter flagged as lewd, spurring a fact checking investigation about the validity of the fundraising.  Markles spokesperson, one D Ragland responded that they were advanced yoga moves. It turns out that their fundraising efforts in a bid to be properly and rightfully cared for were correct and Ms M Markle has been neglectful in her duties as a dog owner.  The dogs are in transit to be re-homed with a family of 5 in the UK.

droning over Riyadh ……………

MM has been chucking darts at a map again after imbibing in the pink water.  Despite a global pandemic and travel restrictions, she has advised media outlets that she will be available for papping in Riyadh with Dolly Darren and her, the one and only, royally rightfully honourable, most shiny, most perspirant Duchess Meghan.  Any interested media outlets must supply their own drone, must email files to m.anderson@ilovemm.com for editing (don’t worry she won’t do anything to them, just send some landscape photos and we’ll take care of inserting the subjects) and must reneg all rights to royalties…by order of her royalness.

owes £750 million ………… 

A couch surfer in Montecito is being sought in relation US taxes owing to the value of £750 million.  The accused is a self acclaimed master at disguise which is easily foiled by people who have a rudimentary knowledge of wigs, veneers, zoom filters and bottom padding.  Please report any sightings to Freephone 0800 MERCHFEESOWING

a silent violin …………… 

A citizen in Montecito has reported the theft of a violin.  It is very small.  The owner is reportedly devastated over the loss as she likes to play it during moments of self pity, which are frequent.  Please report any information to Freephone 0800 CRYMEARIVER

Melania & Nicola……………

MM intends to have 26 babies.  They will be named in order of the alphabet.  MM also likes comic books and Disney films Archie - tick.  Baloo - work in progress.  Noted for future that Melania and Nicola will do for M and N - they seem to get media coverage…. no ‘appropriately royal’ cartoon names available.

Deep sorrow?? …………… Hurley Burley. …………

MM did not have a very good day the other week.  In a redoubtably valiant effort to relive the yachting days of past, she chartered a boat to go fishing.  The results of the catch were to be publicised via a beautifully presented culinary dish via Scoobies Instagram account because she got kicked off her own one.  Early in the day, Scooby was ready and waiting for the images to come through, the crockery supplier was ready to merch, the linen supplier ordered 34,591 of the tablecloths to flog, the eco groups were sweating over gushing sustainable pescatarian press releases, MM was asleep.  Sadly, as one ages, one is more prone to the perils of seasickness and all the faithful followers got was a live feed of MM taking a hurley and creating burley.  No fish were caught.

Oh, my sides!  How I needed this laugh!  Thank you so very much!  You are amazing....this is so appreciated.  I know we are all going through this pandemic...but laughter is so important....thank you for this gift! Love to you and yours!😊❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[justforbooks]

The Yalta Conference, also known as the Crimea Conference and code-named Argonaut, held February 4–11, 1945, was the World War II meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union to discuss the postwar reorganization of Germany and Europe. The three states were represented by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Premier Joseph Stalin, respectively. The conference was held near Yalta in Crimea, Soviet Union, within the Livadia, Yusupov, and Vorontsov Palaces.

The aim of the conference was to shape a post-war peace that represented not just a collective security order but a plan to give self-determination to the liberated peoples of post-Nazi Europe. The meeting was intended mainly to discuss the re-establishment of the nations of war-torn Europe. However, within a few short years, with the Cold War dividing the continent, Yalta became a subject of intense controversy.

Yalta was the second of three major wartime conferences among the Big Three. It was preceded by the Tehran Conference in November 1943, and was followed by the Potsdam Conference in July 1945. It was also preceded by a conference in Moscow in October 1944, not attended by President Roosevelt, in which Churchill and Stalin had spoken of European Western and Soviet spheres of influence.

* Photo Above:  British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt, and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin met at Yalta in February 1945 to discuss their joint occupation of Germany and plans for postwar Europe. Behind them stand, from the left, Field Marshal Sir Alan Brooke, Fleet Admiral Ernest King, Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy, General of the Army George Marshall, Major General Laurence S. Kuter, General Aleksei Antonov, Vice Admiral Stepan Kucherov, and Admiral of the Fleet Nikolay Kuznetsov.

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at http://justforbooks.tumblr.com

[workingclasshistory]

On this day, 6 August 1945, the US dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, slaughtering tens of thousands of civilians, despite many military and government officials believing it was unnecessary. Numerous senior US military officers confirmed that the bombing was not needed to defeat Japan, and indeed that Japan was attempting to surrender. General Dwight D. Eisenhower explained: "Japan was at the moment seeking some way to surrender with minimum loss of 'face'. It wasn't necessary to hit them with that awful thing." Admiral William D. Leahy, former chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff stated "that the use of this barbarous weapon at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was of no material assistance in our war against Japan. The Japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender. My own feeling was that in being the first to use it, we had adopted an ethical standard common to the barbarians of the Dark Ages. I was taught not to make war in that fashion, and wars cannot be won by destroying women and children." And the US Strategic Bombing Survey determined that "Japan would have surrendered even if the atomic bombs had not been dropped, even if Russia had not entered the war, and even if no invasion had been planned or contemplated." Elements within the Japanese government had been attempting to arrange a surrender, while maintaining the institution of the emperor, which possessed important religious significance. The US meanwhile was insisting on an unconditional surrender, but even though this was the only supposed barrier to peace, the US allowed Japan to maintain the emperor after the surrender anyway. Faced with criticism of the mass-killing of civilians, some US officials concocted a narrative that the bombs were used to avoid a land invasion of Japan which would have cost more lives. However, this story was only fabricated in 1947, after the war had already ended. More likely was that the US wanted to send a strong message to Russia before the cold war began. https://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.296224173896073/1777787125739763/?type=3

[nebris]

Joint Chiefs of Staff meeting (circa 1943). From left to right are: Gen. Henry H. Arnold, Chief of the Army Air Forces; Adm. William D. Leahy, Chief of Staff to the Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy; Adm. Ernest J. King, Commander in Chief, U.S. Fleet and Chief of Naval Operations; and Gen. George C. Marshall, Chief of Staff of the United States Army.

[aiiaiiiyo]

Vichy French Chief of State Philippe Pétain and his final meeting with the departing American ambassador William D. Leahy, 1942 [4468 x 4828] Check this blog!

[postersbykeith]

[antoine-roquentin]

Yes, those massive sales of tanks, helicopters, and fighter aircraft are indeed a grim wonder of the modern world and never receive the attention they truly deserve. However, a potentially deadlier aspect of the U.S. weapons trade receives even less attention than the sale of big-ticket items: the export of firearms, ammunition, and related equipment. Global arms control advocates have termed such small arms and light weaponry -- rifles, automatic and semi-automatic weapons, and handguns -- “slow motion weapons of mass destruction” because they’re the weapons of choice in the majority of the 40 armed conflicts now underway around the world. They and they alone have been responsible for nearly half of the roughly 200,000 violent deaths by weapon that have been occurring annually both in and outside of official war zones.

And the Trump administration is now moving to make it far easier for U.S. gun makers to push such wares around the world. Consider it an irony, if you will, but in doing so, the president who has staked his reputation on rejecting everything that seems to him tainted by Barack Obama is elaborating on a proposal originally developed in the Obama years.

The crucial element in the new plan: to move key decisions on whether or not to export guns and ammunition abroad from the State Department’s jurisdiction, where they would be vetted on both human rights and national security grounds, to the Commerce Department, whose primary mission is promoting national exports.

The Violence Policy Center, a research and advocacy organization that seeks to limit gun deaths, has indicated that such a move would ease the way for more exports of a long list of firearms. Those would include sniper rifles and AR-15s, the now-classic weapon in U.S. mass killings like the school shootings in Parkland, Florida, and Newtown, Connecticut. Under the new plan, the careful tracking of whose hands such gun exports could end up in will be yesterday’s news and, as a result, U.S. weapons are likely to become far more accessible to armed gangs, drug cartels, and terrorist operatives.

President Trump’s plan would even eliminate the requirement that Congress be notified in advance of major firearms deals, which would undoubtedly prove to be the arms loophole of all time. According to statistics gathered by the Security Assistance Monitor, which gathers comprehensive information on U.S. military and police aid programs, the State Department approved $662 million worth of firearms exports to 15 countries in 2017. The elimination of Congressional notifications and the other proposed changes will mean that countries like Mexico, the Philippines, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates, as well as various Central American nations, will have far easier access to a far wider range of U.S. firearms with far less Congressional oversight. And that, in turn, means that U.S.-supplied weapons will play even more crucial roles in vicious civil wars like the one in Yemen and are far more likely to make their way into the hands of local thugs, death squads, and drug cartels.

And mind you, it isn’t as if U.S. gun export policies were enlightened before the Trump era. They were already wreaking havoc in neighboring countries. According to a report from the Center for American Progress, an astonishing 50,000 U.S. guns were recovered in criminal investigations in 15 Western Hemisphere nations between 2014 and 2016. That report goes on to note that 70% of the guns recovered from crime scenes in Mexico that are sent to U.S. authorities for tracing are identified as being of U.S. origin. The comparable figures for Central America are 49% for El Salvador, 46% for Honduras, and 29% for Guatemala.

While Donald Trump rails -- falsely -- against a flood of criminals washing across the U.S.-Mexico border, he conveniently ignores this country’s export of violence in the other direction thanks to both legal and illegal transfers of guns to Mexico and Central America. The U.S. has, in short, already effectively weaponized both criminal networks and repressive security forces in those countries. In other words, it’s played a key role in the killing of significant numbers of innocent civilians there, ratcheting up the pressure on individuals, families, and tens of thousands of unaccompanied minors who have then headed for the United States looking for a safer, better life. Trump’s new proposal would potentially make this situation far worse and his “big, fat, beautiful wall” would have to grow larger still.

In the past, congressional awareness of foreign firearm deals has made a difference. In September 2017, under pressure from Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), the Trump administration reversed itself and blocked a sale of 1,600 semiautomatic pistols to Turkey because of abuses by the personal security forces of that country’s president, Recep Erdogan. (Those included what the New York Times described as “brutal attacks” on U.S. citizens during Erdogan’s May 2017 trip to Washington, D.C.) Similarly, Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) persuaded the Obama administration to halt a deal that would have sent 26,000 assault rifles to the Philippines, where security forces and private death squads, egged on by President Rodrigo Duterte, were gunning down thousands of people suspected of (but not charged with or convicted of) drug trafficking. As Washington Post columnist Josh Rogin has noted, under the new Trump rules, it will be nearly impossible for members of Congress to intervene in such a fashion to stop similar deals in the future.

On the implications of the deregulation of firearms exports, Cardin has spoken out strongly. "The United States,” he said, “should never make it easier for foreign despots to slaughter their civilians or for American-made assault weapons to be readily available to paramilitary or terrorist groups... The administration's proposal makes those scenarios even more possible. The United States is, and should be, better than this."

The Trump plan is, however, good news for hire-a-gun successors to Blackwater, the defunct private contractor whose personnel killed 17 civilians in Baghdad’s Nisour Square in a notorious 2007 incident. Such firms would be able to train foreign military forces in the use of firearms without seeking licenses from the State Department, allowing them to operate in places like Libya that might otherwise have been off-limits.