Posted by: Wonderduck at Sun Apr 28 23:05:13 2019 (kYFef)
2
Heh.
The S.P.Korolev segment prompts a couple of comments.
#1, it wasn't much of a miracle the he was released from Gulag. Well, it was a miracle that he lasted long enough to get released. When Stalin decided to start a ballistic missile program, word was sent out collect anyone who was anything in rockets.
#2, Korolev's death is not a mystery: he was killed by surgeons. He came in for a surgery to remove a colon tumor, but something went wrong, he stayed under anesthesia too long and died. Medical mistakes kill a lot of people. A friend of mine died after a heart attack in 2002. He was recuperating in a hospital in Sacramento, and apparently they screwed up his meds.
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at Mon Apr 29 13:34:21 2019 (LZ7Bg)
3
On the topic of the video itself though, I remember how someone told me, "you are like a god to me". That was shocking to say the least. If I look at people like S.P. Korolev, then my accomplishments are rather insignificant! But apparently some of my contemporaries were impressed, if only a little.
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at Mon Apr 29 14:44:18 2019 (LZ7Bg)
4
Oh, and one other thing! Did you notice that Steven's accomplishments happened when he was old and retired? He only shone brightly for a few years before he succumbed to a degenerative disease. But I'm sure he didn't plan on becoming one of the 4 horsemen of blogopocalipse when he was a little cog in the machine of Tektronix.
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at Mon Apr 29 14:46:59 2019 (LZ7Bg)
5
Alas, these days, most people don't venture beyond the big social media providers to blogs, nor to they read anything older than their previous login. They don't know even Internet history, even if the internet eats half their waking hours.
Posted by: Mauser at Mon Apr 29 21:46:37 2019 (Ix1l6)
Balls of BrassMike Ritland has an interview with CBS's LauraLogan about her wide ranging journalistic career starting with her days in South Africa. While most coverage of the interview is focusingone three minute segment, the whole three and a half hour interview is really fascinating and worth a look.
Be advised that around 2:46 she also opens up in considerable detail about her 2011 gang rape in Egypt. Be aware that even giving the disturbing subject matter, it's a very grim segment.
That said this is a really really good interview, with a very substantial woman who has lived a hell of a life.
A Reminder That Tomorrow is the 27th (UPDATED)
...and will see the last of the two showings of They Shall not Grow Old in the U.S.
If you're in Hampton Roads, the only showings are at McArthur Center and Greenbriar 13. Both are at 1PM.
UPDATE: It was all that and a bowl of grits.
I'm very glad that I bought my tickets online as it had completely sold out, despite being shown in three theaters in the local multiplex.
Peter Jackson is an exceptional fimmaker, but the idea that he could take a bunch of frequently unrelated 100 year old film clips taken by the British military and make it work in a narrative form is far fetched.
It's also exactly what he did.
This film is incredibly powerful. It is gut wrenching and horrifying at times, but it is a masterpiece. It is not a technical or historic analysis of any particular battle, but it is a deeply compelling, and often disturbing overview of what it was like to serve in the B.E.F. on the Western Front in the Great War.
The restored and colorized footage (taken from hand cranked cameras over a century ago) translates quite well to the big screen.
I cannot recommend this film highly enough. When this comes up for sale on DVD or Blue Ray, buy it.
1
Oh holy crepe on a stick, that looks heartbreaking. WWI always seems that way to me, but this'll make it feel real.
I don't know if it'll be in Duckford on the 27th, but I'll be watching for it.
Posted by: Wonderduck at Sat Nov 24 18:04:18 2018 (k1bsf)
2
A friend of mine has been talking this up for a while now. I was, "eh, maybe interesting." But that....that was riveting. It's too bad they couldn't release it in time for V-day, but at least it's only a month off.
Posted by: ubu at Sat Nov 24 23:29:05 2018 (UlsdO)
3
Wait, only those two days? That's weird. You'd think that would make distributing the prints uneconomical. Are the newfangled digital print distribution channels that costless now?
Posted by: Mitch H. at Fri Nov 30 12:40:15 2018 (jwKxK)
The animated short in the post below sums up the attitude of much of the United States in the early 1940's. It's not an unreasonable point of view. War is an obscene thing. 24 years earlier the country had entered a "War to End All Wars" which had, in the intervening years provided, as a case study in the wretchedness of war, thousands of men in what should have been the prime of their lives, missing limbs, blind or otherwise maimed by bullets, shrapnel, fire, and gas. The intervening years had seen numerous "police actions" in Central America, each of which had looked an awful lot like a war; ie; that thing those men had been maimed in the hopes of ending for all time.
Most Americans with names not ending in Roosevelt wanted nothing to do with war. And so the pacifists, with help from the German American Bund and the communists (well, until 22 June 1941) all loudly proclaimed the disdain the American people had for war. From the papers to the radio to films as seen below and even the pulpits, the cry of "No More War!" was heard throughout the land.
However, when a sincere desire for peace becomes a nationwide cry from the rooftops it can be misinterpreted. Trotsky's quip, "You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you. " is quite true, and war is especially interested in places where pacifism becomes loud virtue signaling, as it can signal, instead of virtue, cowardice, or at the very least a lack of resolve.
And so, those who looked for such signals interpreted them accordingly. The Americans were not going going to sell them oil because Americans did not want to support those who waged war...because Americans hated war....Americans hated war...so this was the time to strike.
And strike they did, 75 years ago today.
U.S.S. California goes down. Note the sailors in the water.
14inch guns of U.S.S. Pennsylvania silhouetted by the explosion of U.S.S. Shaw.
Battleship Row Burns.
Identifying the bodies pulled from the sunken ships.
Within a few years, those men, and far too many of their subjects discovered to their horror that a disdain for war is not a sign of cowardice, or weakness.
Too loudly proclaiming it however, can cary a terrible price for everyone involved.
Army veteran rescues bald eagle dangling upside down from a rope in 75-foot tree by 'mowing down the branches' with his rifle...Galvin spent 90 minutes firing 150 shots into tree branches to free [the] bird. The eagle, now named Freedom, is recovering at a rehabilitation center.
235 years ago today the 13 southernmost of England's North American colonies sent representatives to Philadelphia to discuss what to do about the various political disputes they had had with London...disputes that had been festering for a decade.
One of these representatives, Benjamin Franklin, had spent 11 years in London trying to resolve these disputes. He had attempted to, amongst other things:
*set up a process for the colonists to elect MPs.
*represent their interests in policy discussions
*relay the London perspective back to the colonies.
While he was in England, he was increasingly treated not as a representative, but an ambassador from a hostile nation. Finally, in 1775, he was called everything but a child of God, told his people were nothing more than subjects who were not entitled to representation of any sort, He was summarily dismissed.
One of the most respected Britons of his age had gone to bring the nation closer together and returned convinced it was not possible.
The various delegates conferred and decided on a course of action. They published their conclusion and the reasons they reached it. It bears remembering that they did not come to their conclusion lightly .
Their statement is below.
Today is the day we celebrate their difficult, but demonstrably fortuitous decision.
It is also a time to reflect on the fact that Washington imposes afar greater degree of interference in our lives than Lord North ever contemplated. However, it is important to remember that the founders provided us with the very tool Lord North had denied them; the ballot box.
Before
IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,
When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one
people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with
another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and
equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle
them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they
should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created
equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable
Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of
Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted
among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,
--That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these
ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to
institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and
organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely
to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate
that Governments long established should not be changed for light and
transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that
mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than
to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are
accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing
invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under
absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off
such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future
security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and
such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former
Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain
is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct
object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To
prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing
importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should
be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend
to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large
districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of
Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and
formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual,
uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records,
for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his
measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause
others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of
Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise;
the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of
invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that
purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing
to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the
conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of
Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to
our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to
their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders
which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring
Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging
its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument
for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to
compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with
circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most
barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas
to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their
friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured
to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian
Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction
of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress
in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered
only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by
every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free
people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We
have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to
extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of
the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have
appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured
them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations,
which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence.
They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity.
We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our
Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in
War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America,
in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the
world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by
Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and
declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free
and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to
the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and
the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and
that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War,
conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all
other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for
the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection
of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our
Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
The Signatures.....
Georgia:
Button Gwinnett
Lyman Hall
George Walton
North Carolina:
William Hooper
Joseph Hewes
John Penn
South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge
Thomas Heyward, Jr.
Thomas Lynch, Jr.
Arthur Middleton
Massachusetts:
John Hancock
Maryland:
Samuel Chase
William Paca
Thomas Stone
Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia:
George Wythe
Richard Henry Lee
Thomas Jefferson
Benjamin Harrison
Thomas Nelson, Jr.
Francis Lightfoot Lee
Carter Braxton
Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris
Benjamin Rush
Benjamin Franklin
John Morton
George Clymer
James Smith
George Taylor
James Wilson
George Ross
Delaware:
Caesar Rodney
George Read
Thomas McKean
New York:
William Floyd
Philip Livingston
Francis Lewis
Lewis Morris
New Jersey:
Richard Stockton
John Witherspoon
Francis Hopkinson
John Hart
Abraham Clark
New Hampshire: Josiah Bartlett William Whipple
Massachusetts: Samuel Adams John Adams Robert Treat Paine Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island: Stephen Hopkins William Ellery
Connecticut: Roger Sherman Samuel Huntington William Williams Oliver Wolcott
Bright Lights in a Dark WeekRobert Baily, a UK citizen teaching English in Japan, was not even scheduled to work on March 11. On his own initiative he had come in to teach some students the ins and outs of cricket. When the Quake hit, Baily kept his head and got his class outside to avoid falling debris. When the Tsunami sirens lit off he had less than 8 minutes to corral 42 terrified high school students to high ground before death came to the town of Ofunato. None of the schools other students have even been accounted for, but Baily's quick thinking got his entire class to safety. More here.
Image via Sky News
Hideki Akikawa returned home after the earthquake and tsunami to find his city not only demolished but sunk. The quake lowered the level of the town below sea level turning it into a bay.
Akikawa somehow acquired a set of SCUBA gear, dove into the frigid waters, found his home and rescued his wife who was trapped in a submerged air pocket. He later used the same skillset to save his mother, and is now assisting in the relief efforts. There is a much better telling of this here. (Link NSFW) via.
Just over a month ago 9 year old Anaiah Rucker lost her leg. She did so pushing her 5 year old sister out of the way of an oncoming truck. She has been released from the hospital to a well deserved heroes welcome. She has a hard road ahead but thanks to her quick thinking she still has a little sister with which to travel down it.
The times are bad, but there are still good people out there.
There is a brief account by Fuchida of his view of the attack here. Interesting in that it gives some idea of the sheer force of the explosion that sank Arizona.
We were about to begin our second bombing run
when there was a colossal explosion in battleship row. A huge column of
dark red smoke rose to 1000 meters. It must have been the explosion of a
ship's powder magazine.The shock wave was felt even in my plane, several miles away from the harbor.
Wow.
Also. On this solemn day of remembrance, Google reminds us of one reason we use Bing.
The unanimous Declarationof the thirteen UnitedStates
of America
When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one
people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with
another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and
equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle
them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they
should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created
equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable
Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
— That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men,
deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That
whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is
the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new
Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its
powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their
Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments
long established should not be changed for light and transient causes;
and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed
to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by
abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train
of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a
design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it
is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards
for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of
these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to
alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present
King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations,
all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny
over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid
world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary
for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and
pressing
importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should
be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend
to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large
districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of
Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and
formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual,
uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records,
for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his
measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing
with
manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause
others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of
Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise;
the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of
invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for
that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners;
refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and
raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his
Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of
their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms
of
Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without
the
Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior
to
the Civil Power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign
to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent
to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any
Murders
which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring
Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging
its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument
for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and
altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves
invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his
Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and
destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries
to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun
with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the
most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized
nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high
Seas
to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their
friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has
endeavoured
to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian
Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction
of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress
in
the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only
by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every
act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free
people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We
have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to
extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of
the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have
appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured
them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations,
which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence.
They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We
must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our
Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in
War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America,
in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the
world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by
Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and
declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free
and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to
the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and
the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and
that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War,
conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all
other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And
for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the
protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our
Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.
It Was the Right Call
The Presidents decision to cut short his Memorial Day speech in the face of a violent freak storm has elicited some criticism, but it absolutely was the right one. A prime example of a bad call would have been to simply slog through in utter defiance of God, nature and reason and risk having people in the audience killed by lightning or injured by the wind.
Sometimes a failure really is due to bad luck or circumstances and not judgment. This is particularly true with regards to the weather.
As to those who complain that he was not at Arlington, give it a rest. He was at a U.S. military cemetery, one that does not get a lot of attention nationally, and its a pretty significant place for those who have loved ones buried there.
There is a lot to criticize about Obama but this is not one of them. He is also our president. Taking cheap shots is petty and does a disservice to those heroes we seek to honor on this day.
1
Well you might qualify for some kind of disaster relief after everything settles down.
Sounds like Virginny hasn't been sacrificing enough kites to the trees.
Hope the new year coming up brings you better duck'o luck.
Posted by: toad at Sat Nov 14 06:14:44 2009 (CmHSA)
Moral Cowardice and Courage can Look Very Similar
In 1974 a company in Japan called Office Academy put out a childrens show that focused on the crew of a space battleship on a desperate mission. The show was called Space Battleship Yamato, 1979-80 it was picked up by an American company which dubbed and syndicated it under the title Starblazers. Unlike many shows brought over it was translated quite respectfully, if not entirely accurately and, in my opinion was one of the better sci-fi shows to air in the 1980's.
Thee were several changes made for the American after-school audience, Saki became "..water from a spring that once flowed fresh and clear...and will again if we succeed", the name of the ship was changed to ARGO, and some of the more graphic violence was excised. With the glaring omission of one line in season two* the changes were either of little consequence or arguably improved the story. This was a remarkable accomplishment, especially given the terrible record US companies had of dubbing foreign shows until recently, and the writers and voice actors for the American version deserve considerable credit.
One particular scene from episode one really hooked me on the show as a kid. It very much set the tone for the series. I recently encountered the Japanese version of episode 1, and though the action is almost identical the difference is glaring.
Compare and contrast the difference, between this scene in Starblazers and Yamato....and ask yourself, given the choices of course, speed and targeting, is there any difference in results?
A few Points: For clarity, In Space Battleship Yamato, it is subsequently revealed that Missile Ship 17 is named Yukikaze, In Starblazers it is the Paladin.
In both cases the overall strategic and tactical situations are identical. Earth is under bombardment by the mass drivers of an alien force that has established an artillery outpost on Pluto. As an added bit of dramatic overkill, the space rocks are highly radioactive (and are called planet bombs). Admiral Okita (Capt. Avatar) has put together a scratch force built around the last surviving Earth BB and several escorts. The mission goal to destroy the enemy mass drivers and buy earth some time. The enemy is at least a couple of decades in advance of Earth technologically and has superior numbers as well. Earth vessels must close to point blank range to destroy enemy forces as their energy weapons have a short effective range...their most effective weapons are armor piercing nuclear tipped rockets..but those have an even shorter reach, thus it is critical to mission success that the force not be discovered until it is very close to its goal. The only Earth vessel with any major ability to fight while hurt is the BB. The escorts are very lacking in durability and redundancy.
Shortly before the clip begins the Earth forces encountered an enemy picket which called reinforcements that out number the Earth forces by 5 to one. With a quantitative and qualitative advantage all on one side, the cold equations of the N-square Law scarcely need to be consulted to determine the outcome. Though the Earth forces do, surprisingly, destroy some enemy ships, the battle is utterly hopeless.
At this point the two versions diverge....
Yamato:
relevant footage ends at 2:22
Star Blazers:
relevant footage ends at 2:11
My Take: In both series, Okita/Avatar realizes that no strategic goal could be accomplished given
the forces arrayed against them at Pluto. He makes the perfectly sensible (and
correct) decision to husband his remaining forces to fight at a later date
rather than squander 490 lives and 2 very precious ships for no strategic (or
even tactical) gain. In Yamato however, Mamorou Kodai then disobeys orders because his ego is
bruised by the order to retreat and, in a fit of utter narcissism, leads the ship
and 19 personnel under his command into oblivion. After the speech he gave, the
American Military would have likely brought him back in
irons had he been rescued. Kodai is certainly physically brave, but, while that is an important quality, it is no substitute for perspective, professionalism or the ability to follow orders. His moral cowardice causes him to waste his ship and the personnel entrusted to him to no good end.**
In Starblazers, Wildstar executes the same course changes Kodai did, fires weapons
at the same targets with the same results and likewise loses his entire command.
However his stated reason... "It's a simple matter of mathematics Captain. There
are 470 people on your ship, 20 on mine." ...is not only correct from a
humanitarian standpoint, it is tactically sound. The Battleship, however
inadequate it may be, is a very hard to replace asset and 470 trained personnel
are an invaluable resource. The destroyers JOB is to defend the capital ships.
In his case the refusal to follow Avatars orders come off very much as a
military professional who displays sufficient initiative to act upon information
his command does not yet have..."...can't talk now! There are Gamilon ships
approaching!". In contrast to the pointless sacrifice of Yukikaze, the
Paladins last battle brought enough time for the Earth Battleship to escape. As an added
bonus, the fact that Avatar and Orion were aboard made that have far reaching
strategic implications...but that is only clear to fans of the show.
The final action of Paladin is reminiscent of
Themopolae or the USS Johnston at Samar and is in the finest traditions of
any military service. That of Yukikaze is more like the arrogance of
Roland or the charge of the light brigade...but worse than either.
The
"simple mathematics" line is in IMHO much better from a dramatic standpoint as
well...
* As to the season 2 line in question:
NO!!1! KNOX DID NOT GET OUT RIGHT BEHIND HIM....WE SAW KNOX DIE (quite well I might add) ** More damning still, is the implication, absent from the American version, that Kodai could have saved his ship and crew if he'd followed orders.
1
Just want to point out that the Charge of the Light Brigade was the result of a mistaken order, not some narcissistic desire for glory by the brigade's commander. Its my understanding though, that in the context of the Japanese military tradition, that the Yokikaze's captain's attitude was in line with pre-WWII attitudes. How else does one explain the actions of some of the Japanese military officers, for example, at Guadalcanal?
Anyways, just my two cents.
Posted by: Bill at Mon Jul 6 11:52:04 2009 (BtODw)
2
Yes, you are, of course, correct about the Light Brigade. That was a debacle and a waste but not actually intentional. This fictional example comes off as rather worse as it is a CO wasting the lives of his crew. It is, of course mitigated by being a cartoon.
Good observations regards Japanese actions in WW2.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Tue Jul 7 22:29:24 2009 (V5zw/)
3
Up to a certain extent I can understand the "shame" and "atonement" concepts that leads to suicide in the Japanese culture and the concept of "face" that is common in East Asia. But the Japanese Army esp. after their first coup seemed to go bat shit crazy in a lot of their actions. With the civilian population undergoing death by kinetic weapons, starvation,disease, two atomic bombings, and the Russian attack into Japanese held Manchuria, Part of the Army staff and the Imperial guard tried a coup to prevent the Emperor from surrendering. They were going to hold him prisoner. This was very much against orders and tradition. They wanted to "go down fighting."
Oh well I don't understand women either.
Posted by: toad at Wed Jul 8 16:05:13 2009 (/ymBE)
"Oh..that was ME!?"John Moffat fought a hard war. He served on 4 carriers in the Second World War, saw action in the North Atlantic, Mediterranean and Pacific and survived the sinking of the HMS Ark Royal and the terrible fire aboard HMS Formidable. However, his most famous action took place early in the war.The target was the Nazi battleship Bismark, which was had sent the Home
fleet flagship to the bottom of the Denmark Straits and was at extreme
range. Churchill himself ordered ordered the carrier Ark Royal to launch an attack....weather be damned....At the time HMS Ark Royal was caught in hurricane force winds and taking green water over her flight deck.
"The ship was pitching 60ft, water was running over the decks and the wind was blowing at 70 or 80mph... And nobody mentions the deck hands who had to bring the planes up
from the hangars - they did something special. After they brought
them up they had to open
the wings which took ten men for each wing. And then they had to wind a handle to get the starters working."
Only 3 pilots were able to get their machines into the air under those hellish conditions and those machines were Fairy Swordfish....utterly obsolete biplane Torpedo bombers. 3 Stringbags against a battleship. 3 torpedoed dropped in the face of a hellstorm of flack. One of those torpedoes struck. It jammed the Bismark's rudder. That hit allowed the remnants of the home fleet to get within range. KMS Bismark died as a result.
1
For what it's worth, I've always wondered just why the Stringbag was considered obsolete, considering how perfectly it fit the role of torpedo bomber.
Yes, it was slow, and no, it couldn't fly very high. But a successful torpedo attack (at the time) required that the weapon be dropped at a slow speed and a low altitude... and nothing could fly slower or lower than a Swordfish.
Yeah, it was a biplane, and yes there were torpedo bombers than could go faster and farther, but think about where the Swordfish was primarily used: the European theatre. Shorter range was the norm, rather than the exception. MANY good planes failed when they were used in the Pacific (where the Swordfish was butchered). The Spitfire and Hurricane, stars of the Battle of Britain, just couldn't hack Pacific duty. That doesn't make them bad.
I'd surely rather have a Stringbag than a Devastator, that's for sure.
Posted by: Wonderduck at Sun Jun 14 00:48:27 2009 (hlGBx)
2
You've answered your own question in mentioning the Devastator. It was faster better armored and against modern planes died to no effect.
The Swordfish WAS very good at asw off small carriers. And its STOL and loiter capabilities meant it was useful, but as a TB it was obsolete. Of course obsolete is relative. A Mauser 98 is obsolete...it will still kill you dead.
The Swordfish was used to some good effect against axis shipping, but this is more a testament to its crews than its design.
Posted by: Brickmuppet at Sun Jun 14 01:19:16 2009 (YOPeE)
3
We had this argument off-blog, but to reiterate for the public:
The Swordfish was slower, yes. It also had a better rate of climb, a longer range, and carried a heavier torpedo.
When carrying a torpedo, a Devastator couldn't even take on a full load of fuel, shortening it's range even more.
Considering that a TBD had to drop its torp at 100mph and 100feet altitude, and the Swordfish didn't, I'll continue to argue that it was the better plane. The Stringbag would have failed just as badly against Zeros, but I'd take it over the TBD any day.
Of course, both paled when put up against a Kate, which in turn looked bad against the Avenger... which was not actually the best torpedo bomber of the war.
That would have been the Aichi B7A (aka "Grace"). Fortunately, only 100 or so were built, and they had no carriers to fly from.
Posted by: Wonderduck at Sun Jun 14 23:30:41 2009 (hlGBx)
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Before
War, saw action in the North Atlantic, Mediterranean and Pacific and survived the sinking of the HMS Ark Royal and the terrible fire aboard HMS Formidable. However, his most famous action took place early in the war.The target was the Nazi battleship Bismark, which was had sent the Home
fleet flagship to the bottom of the Denmark Straits and was at extreme
range. Churchill himself ordered ordered the carrier Ark Royal to launch an attack....weather be damned....At the time HMS Ark Royal was caught in hurricane force winds and taking green water over her flight deck. 
