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Milestones
- Thread starter admihoek
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Crux-Emperor Baracus X
Rectidolor
Isn't today also the anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster??
30 years ago,96 Football fans lost their lives,in the FA Cup Semi Final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest. Such a waste. RIP irrespective of which team I support.
30 years ago,96 Football fans lost their lives,in the FA Cup Semi Final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest. Such a waste. RIP irrespective of which team I support.
Frank Petrexa
Tribune
CNN said that the tower that collapsed was built in the 19th century. I agree with you that it probably had to do with construction (an iconic building close to me erupted in flames during a renovation, due to welding equipment). Of course they should rebuild it--pardon the metaphor, but it's like Lenin: most of the original isn't there any more anyway, and lots of things have been added over the centuries. There will I hope be a core of original work that survives the fire. (Flying buttresses were, I thought, a medieval invention to keep the walls up because their engineering was rudimentary at best.) If they can restore it to the same "look and feel" it had before, they should. After the destruction of World War II, it would have been a further catastrophe not to try to reconstruct what was lost. The same argument applies here, I think.
poem21045
Tribunus Plebis
Same feeling I had when he was elected...For a few seconds I had hope that this is a fake
Frank Petrexa
Tribune
When the attack on the world trade center happened, there was a conspiracy theory that the CIA did it and not the exploding plane full of fuel because a mere "fire wouldn't cause the skeleton to melt like that". Engineering "experts" were quoted to bolster the claim. I've also read that the model of how fires spread (and that was used to convict arsonists) used in the United States was wrong, and they only found out by deliberately torching buildings in experiments. Fires like the world trade center and Notre Dame are so rare that no one is really sure what will happen. That also makes them hard to fight. I assume that if the construction contractor is deemed responsible, they will go bankrupt. I hope that the fire authorities won't be subjected to second-guessing and criticism: there is no way they could have rehearsed this and gotten it perfect. (Some of them apparently went inside an old, burning, collapsing building to try to salvage what they could.)I was wondering what would happen if the Louvre went up, or the Vatican museums. They surely have some sprinklers, but that would be bad for the art (although it would keep fires from spreading--basically sacrifice some for all). I imagine that it would have been difficult to have sprinklers in Notre Dame, and if it had been proposed it would have been fiercely opposed.
Praefectus Praetorio
R.I.P. Brother of the Quill
A daily Double from the animal world!
The first day of the Bay of Pigs fighting (troops landed just before midnight on April 16, 1961 (see "The Agent, The Girl and the Fidelistas" in the Archive for more details on the little known back story)
On this day in 1521, a minor monk, professor and priest appeared before the assembled rulers of the Holy Roman Empire at the Diet of Worms. He was ordered to recant his disagreement with the Church Authorities. He returned the next day and, when pressed on issue, said,
"I this day appear before you in all humility, according to your command, and I implore your
majesty and your august highnesses, by the mercies of God, to listen with favor to the defense of a cause
which I am well assured is just and right. I ask pardon, if by reason of my ignorance, I am wanting in the
manners that befit a court; for I have not been brought up in king’s palaces, but in the seclusion of a
cloister; and I claim no other merit than that of having spoken and written with the simplicity of mind
which regards nothing but the glory of God and the pure instruction of the people of Christ."
“Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures and by clear reason (for I do not trust in the pope or councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves), I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted. My conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not retract anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. May God help me. Amen.”
He finished by saying (perhaps apocryphally)
“Hier stehe ich. Ich kann nicht anders. Gott helfe mir. Amen.” (Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise. God help me. Amen)
And Europe was never the same again.
The first day of the Bay of Pigs fighting (troops landed just before midnight on April 16, 1961 (see "The Agent, The Girl and the Fidelistas" in the Archive for more details on the little known back story)
On this day in 1521, a minor monk, professor and priest appeared before the assembled rulers of the Holy Roman Empire at the Diet of Worms. He was ordered to recant his disagreement with the Church Authorities. He returned the next day and, when pressed on issue, said,
"I this day appear before you in all humility, according to your command, and I implore your
majesty and your august highnesses, by the mercies of God, to listen with favor to the defense of a cause
which I am well assured is just and right. I ask pardon, if by reason of my ignorance, I am wanting in the
manners that befit a court; for I have not been brought up in king’s palaces, but in the seclusion of a
cloister; and I claim no other merit than that of having spoken and written with the simplicity of mind
which regards nothing but the glory of God and the pure instruction of the people of Christ."
“Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures and by clear reason (for I do not trust in the pope or councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves), I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted. My conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not retract anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. May God help me. Amen.”
He finished by saying (perhaps apocryphally)
“Hier stehe ich. Ich kann nicht anders. Gott helfe mir. Amen.” (Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise. God help me. Amen)
And Europe was never the same again.
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Praefectus Praetorio
R.I.P. Brother of the Quill
On a musical note to commemorate Good Friday. A performance of the final chorale of Passio Domini nostri J.C. secundum Evangelistam Matthæum (The Passion of our Lord J C following the Evangelist Matthew; GR: Matthäus-Passion; ENG: St. Matthews Passion) by Johann Sebastian Bach - 1727. Performed by Malmö Chamber Choir and orchestra on April 8, 2009, in Lund Cathedral, Sweden. IMHO, the greatest work of sacred music ever written.
And I just listened to "Play that funky music, white boy" (really, I did)... Call 911
Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day - it comes right next to Anzac Day, which we celebrate tomorrow.
Another terrible example of cruelty to an ethnic minority, a final solution predating Hitler and the Jews.
It also has a thematic interest for us here at CF, although I don't think there is actual evidence of female crucifixion beyond the well known film Ravished Armenia/Auction of Souls
Another terrible example of cruelty to an ethnic minority, a final solution predating Hitler and the Jews.
It also has a thematic interest for us here at CF, although I don't think there is actual evidence of female crucifixion beyond the well known film Ravished Armenia/Auction of Souls
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Thanks Gibbs.
The words of Attaturk (pic #4) are very poignant. The speak of the bonds that have grown up between our countries, the Anzacs always respected the Turks as opponents, and in turn we were reassured that our dead were lying in the soil of a friendly country.
Erdogan, in keeping with modern "statesmen", has reversed this and made highly inflammatory remarks for the sake of his domestic audience. This is our world, very sad. Erdogan is no Attaturk, he threatens the legacy of Attaturk.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/chch...-s-comments-about-anzacs-spark-diplomatic-row
https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/drive/tensions-ease-over-turkish-president-erdoğans-anzac-comments/10927108
ps lovely weather today for those attending the thousands of dawn services around the country.
Sydney
Canberra
and of course Gallipoli
and small towns and cities everywhere
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Frank Petrexa
Tribune
Gallipoli cost Winston Churchill his cabinet post (and probably should have). It also cost the life of Henry Mosley (British) of the Royal Engineers, who established the science behind the periodic table with his X-ray experiments. (One book I have says "that alone made the war an obscenity"). One has to ask what it takes for the high command to get it right. The only general I know who seemed to have the right mix of energy and prudence was Ulysses Simpson Grant. The only admiral was Chester W. Nimitz.
Australia (and Canada and New Zealand), with small populations, certainly paid their dues to the British Empire, and to the world.
As indeed did India and the African colonies, very largely airbrushed out of the narrative of both WWs.
GabriellaSivilla
Governor
Are the photos authentic? which is the source?
windar
Teller of Tales
So called "populists", who serve their egos not the people.
Anyway, I believe I've posted this on ANZAC day before, but it's worth a repost
Praefectus Praetorio
R.I.P. Brother of the Quill
Mostly agree, but don't forget Cold Harbor!
I'd include Bull Halsey. And you can't exclude Nelson. "Any Captain who puts his ship next to one of the enemy, hasn't gone wrong."
Loxuru
Graf von Kreuzigung
'Ravished Armenia' is a lost movie, except for the last about 22 minutes. This includes the famous crucifixion scene at the end :
Gibbs505
SERVORUM DOMITOR
There are a lot of good Generals and Admirals. Bill Slim in Burma and Harwood in at the River Plate for example.
Some others were promoted beyond their competence, yes and all made mistakes.
Admiral Sir Bertram Home Ramsay was a genius who had been forced into retirement before ww2 and was put into Dover command in 1939 and thus was in position to command the Dunkirk evacuation. Without him it would have been a much greater disaster.
It is impossible to completely say one general is better then another. Consider Manstein he was considered by other German generals to be the best of them.
Frank Petrexa
Tribune
Yes, Cold Harbor. He regretted it.
I agree that Halsey was aggressive and energetic. He wasn't at all incompetent. But he screwed up big time at Leyte Gulf, and he sailed his fleet into two typhoons. Spruance, by contrast, was more cautious and level-headed. He was criticized at the Battle of the Philippine Sea (the great Marianas turkey shoot) for not sailing off after the Japanese, but he felt he needed to protect the landings. I'd rate him above Halsey.
No, and I wouldn't exclude Nelson, certainly.