Quotulatiousness

December 4, 2020

A Japanese Bureaucratic Mess – WW2 Special

Filed under: Bureaucracy, Government, History, Japan, WW2 — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 06:00

World War Two
Published 3 Dec 2020

Contrary to popular belief, Imperial Japan was not an absolute monarchy marching (or sailing) to war with singular vision and purpose. Rather, it was a dysfunctional government of competing factions, players and interests.

Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TimeGhostHistory
Or join The TimeGhost Army directly at: https://timeghost.tv

Follow WW2 day by day on Instagram @ww2_day_by_day – https://www.instagram.com/ww2_day_by_day
Between 2 Wars: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list…
Source list: http://bit.ly/WW2sources

Written and Hosted by: Indy Neidell
Director: Astrid Deinhard
Producers: Astrid Deinhard and Spartacus Olsson
Executive Producers: Astrid Deinhard, Indy Neidell, Spartacus Olsson, Bodo Rittenauer
Creative Producer: Maria Kyhle
Post-Production Director: Wieke Kapteijns
Research by: Indy Neidell
Edited by: Michał Zbojna
Sound design: Marek Kamiński
Map animations: Eastory (https://www.youtube.com/c/eastory)

Colorizations by:
Julius Jääskeläinen – https://www.facebook.com/JJcolorization/
Jaris Almazani (Artistic Man) – https://instagram.com/artistic.man?ig…

Sources:
From the Noun Project: company soldiers by Andrei Yushchenko, Government by Nithinan Tatah, Shiro by Simon Child, War by Nhor, House by Eucalyp from the Noun Project

Soundtracks from the Epidemic Sound:
“ES_Paths of a Samurai” – Mandala Dreams
“ES_Sights of the Tokyo Tower” – Sight of Wonders
“ES_The Bloom of Cherry Blossoms” – Sight of Wonders
“ES_Immovable As The Mountain” – Yi Nantiro
“ES_Pacific Shores” – Mandala Dreams

Archive by Screenocean/Reuters https://www.screenocean.com.

A TimeGhost chronological documentary produced by OnLion Entertainment GmbH.

“The Red Baron Pt. 2” – Kings of the Sky – Sabaton History 096 [Official]

Filed under: France, Germany, History, Media, Military, WW1 — Tags: , , , , , — Nicholas @ 04:00

Sabaton History
Published 3 Dec 2020

They were the Aces in the sky — proud knights who flew their planes into deadly combat. Loved by the public, feared by their enemies, the victorious pilots of the Great War rose to prominence as gallant heroes. But the personal stories of those celebrated pilots were also memories full of excruciating pain, of terrible loss, and inner struggle. Body and mind of those aces were broken by the constant danger of fighting in the air. Those who survived bore more than a few scars.

Support Sabaton History on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/sabatonhistory

Listen to “The Red Baron” on the album The Great War: https://music.sabaton.net/TheGreatWar

Watch the Official Lyrics Video of “The Red Baron” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PXzg…

Listen to Sabaton on Spotify: http://smarturl.it/SabatonSpotify
Official Sabaton Merchandise Shop: http://bit.ly/SabatonOfficialShop

Hosted by: Indy Neidell
Written by: Markus Linke and Indy Neidell
Directed by: Astrid Deinhard and Wieke Kapteijns
Produced by: Pär Sundström, Astrid Deinhard and Spartacus Olsson
Creative Producer: Maria Kyhle
Executive Producers: Pär Sundström, Joakim Brodén, Tomas Sunmo, Indy Neidell, Astrid Deinhard, and Spartacus Olsson
Community Manager: Maria Kyhle
Post-Production Director: Wieke Kapteijns
Editor: Karolina Dołęga
Sound Editor: Marek Kamiński
Maps by: Eastory – https://www.youtube.com/c/eastory
Archive: Reuters/Screenocean – https://www.screenocean.com

Sources:
– National Archives NARA
– Imperial War Museums: EB1911, Q33851, Q33725, Q33875, Q23897, Q 105765, ART 1611, Q 63852, Q 63850, Q 93660, Q 55479, Q 60799, Q 10331, Q 67114, Q 66540,
– Library of Congress
– The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
– Wellcome Images
– Icons form The Nano Project: iron cross By Souvik Maity, IN ld Plane by LUTFI GANI AL ACHMAD,
– planes of World War 1 courtesy of 11Amanda on Wikimedia Commons

All music by: Sabaton

An OnLion Entertainment GmbH and Raging Beaver Publishing AB co-Production.

© Raging Beaver Publishing AB, 2019 – all rights reserved.

Canada used to have a “none of the above” option in federal elections … let’s bring it back

Filed under: Cancon, Government, History, Liberty, Politics — Tags: , — Nicholas @ 03:00

David Warren describes how the “returned ballot” functioned as a “none of the above” vote in Canadian federal elections:

“2019 Canadian federal election – VOTE” by Indrid__Cold is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

Back to the polling station, where the electoral officer is now passing me a ballot, with a hint on how to make an X on it. I am directed to a voting stall.

But I refuse to go there. Instead, I turn earnestly to the officer and say: “I am returning this ballot.”

Chances were, even decades ago, he would be thrown into confusion. So one would explain his job to him. He was supposed to have a book, entitled “Returned Ballots.” Into this he was supposed to transcribe one’s name and address. Getting into the book was one’s only way to avoid the secret ballot. But it was important to get in, to be recorded correctly, rather than as a “spoilt ballot,” as one is counted now if one’s ballot has no X.

After voting, I would check the result, and if not even one returned ballot had been recorded, I could doubt it was legitimate.
Now comes the good part. For returned ballots were supposed to be a separate category in the election tally. It was competing with all the other candidates. If it won a plurality — more returned ballots than the leading candidate — the election was to be formally thrown out, and a by-election called, in which none of the candidates for the thrown out one were allowed to run again. Too, voters could “theoretically” do this over and over, until at least one Party chose a candidate we could stomach.

In theory, this was an excellent way for voters to “drain the swamp,” directly, by eliminating the political sleaze in successive groups. In practice — aheu — it was never used. The political sleaze nevertheless spotted the possibility, and had it taken off the books, at both Dominion and Provincial levels. What can I say? They are sleaze.

So the first thing we must do is campaign for the return of the returned ballot, up here; and for its institution in all the other Western nations. Then the second is to impartially, but massively, campaign for its use. It could be the greatest thing since the ancient Athenian ostracon.

5 strange Canadian objects

Filed under: Cancon, Food, Football, History, Humour, Randomness — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 02:00

J.J. McCullough
Published 22 Jul 2017

Let’s take a look at a couple of weird things only Canadians will understand.

O Canada ending music care of SuperNIntendoGameboy, check out full version here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0qmP…

QotD: In praise of the “Old Contemptibles”

Filed under: Britain, History, Military, WW1 — Tags: — Nicholas @ 01:00

We shall win this war one day, and most of the credit will go, as usual, to those who are in at the finish. But — when we assign the glory and the praise, let us not forget those who stood up to the first rush. The new armies which are pouring across the Channel this month will bring us victory in the end. Let us bare our heads, then, in all reverence, to the memory of those battered, decimated, indomitable legions which saved us from utter extinction at the beginning.

Ian Hay (Major John Hay Beith), The First Hundred Thousand: Being the Unofficial Chronicle of a Unit of “K(1)”, 1916.

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