Quotulatiousness

December 7, 2020

E.01 – Enter Japan – Pearl Harbor – WW2 – 120 A – December 7, 1941

Filed under: History, Japan, Military, Pacific, USA, WW2 — Tags: , , , , — Nicholas @ 12:06

World War Two
Published 7 Dec 2020

Powered by World of Warships – https://wo.ws/PearlHarbor – Register now to receive an exclusive bonus!

In this episode: Japan’s meticulous planning and preparation made it possible to surprise the Americans at Pearl Harbor. Alert on Oahu is largely nonexistent. It is the deep breath before the plunge.

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

Hosted by: Indy Neidell
Written by: Spartacus Olsson and Indy Neidell
Directed by: Wieke Kapteijns
Executive Producers: Astrid Deinhard, Indy Neidell, Spartacus Olsson, Bodo Rittenauer
Produced by: Astrid Deinhard and Spartacus Olsson
Co-Producers: Maria Kyhle and Francis van Berkel
Edited by: Iryna Dulka
Set Design by: Astrid Deinhard
Graphic Design by: Mikolaj Uchman
Map Animations by: Daniel Haczyk and Eastory
Assistant Editors: Miki Cackowski, Daniel Weiss, Karolina Dołega
Still Colorizers: Adrien Fillon, Norman Stewart, Jaris Almazani, Daniel Weiss, Mikolaj Uchman, Carlos Ortega Pereira
Research by: Indy Neidell, Spartacus Olsson, Markus Linke, Wieke Kapteijns, Bastian Gaete, Lewis Braithwaite, Tim Smith, Ian Irungu
Sound Design by: Marek Kamiński
Dogfights by: Daniel Weiss, Bastian Gaete, Ian Sowden, Dennis Stepanov

Voices:
Mitsuo Fuchida – Daniel Grieb
Ada Peggy Olsson – Shani Neidell Beard
Iyōzō Fujita – Emi Celis
James Anderson – Emi Celis
Dorinda Stagner – Zora Johnson
Jack Kelley – Ryan Socash
James McClelland – Spartacus Olsson
Phil Rasmussen – Spartacus Olsson
Dan Wentrcek – Dennis Stepanov
Thompson Izawa – Samir Mechel
Robert Isacksen – Ian Sowden
Joseph K. Taussig Jr. – Tim Smith
James Cory – Ryan Tebo

Film colorization by: Ricks Film Restoration
Naval Gameplay by: World of Warships
Archive material provided by: Reuters/Screenocean

A TimeGhost chronological documentary produced by OnLion Entertainment GmbH.

From the comments:

World War Two
1 hour ago (edited)
When we set out to do this crazy project we thought we wanted to try some really new things. As anyone knows that follows us regularly, our first and foremost goal is remembrance — to shine a light on our past and learn form our ancestors’ mistakes and achievements. We try our best to do that with a dedication to facts and details liberated from partisan, or ideological historiography. For this purpose, the attack on Pearl Harbor serves very well. It is a compact event over only a few hours that is spectacular in its nature, tragic in its effect, gripping in its drama, and has tremendous impact on WW2 on all fronts. It is also an event that is often simplified to the point of misunderstanding, has been woven into national mythology, and given rise to some pretty nutty conspiracy myths. Simply put: the Attack on Pearl Harbor is short enough, exciting enough, and misunderstood enough for us to do a limited series like this.

But more than that we also wanted to try some new technical and narrative things. Since we started doing historical documentaries with the Great War in 2014 we have tried to be on the forefront of pioneering new ways of creating historiography for the modern media world. Narratively, we have dedicated ourselves to chronologies, which in historiography is nothing new, but it is new in the world of film documentaries (at least to the level we do it) — so we thought; “heck what if we go down to minute by minute for this” — well we did and it taught us an enormous amount about Pearl Harbor, but also about how we can write. We will get back to that in further comment on the series. As for technology, it truly is technology that enables our work, well any media — for us it is social media, affordable ways to capture film, global virtual remote working spaces, digital research opportunities, digital film archives, and so on.

Two areas we had not been able to venture into was recreation of scenes using computer graphics and colorization of moving images. Using a gaming engine to create animation is also nothing new, but usually very, very expensive because you have to first create the world, the assets and the characters for your recreation. But for Pearl Harbor, World of Warships ​https://worldofwarships.com and World of Warplanes https://worldofwarplanes.com opened an opportunity to do this on a new scale at a cost that is only a fraction of what it usually costs. Along the way we also got to know Ricks Film Restorations (https://bit.ly/ricksfilmresorations and https://www.youtube.com/user/Rick88888888) who use AI technology to enhance and colorize film footage. While both of these technologies are only at the beginning of their potential, we think the results are spectacular. More than anything it has enabled us to enhance the emotional and visual experience for this series to a level we never reached before. Last but not least it enabled us to use the financial contributions of the TimeGhost Army, and World of Warships to create five hours of content for less than 1/50th — only 2% — of what it would cost to do with traditional means.

creatingstuff

In the Name of the entire TimeGhost Team,
Astrid, Indy, Spartacus, and Wieke

Episode Guide:
This is a 10 episode limited series within our weekly coverage of WW2 — to see the immediate events leading up to this day watch episode 119 from December 5, https://youtu.be/DYUzmBuX-6Y. Some of the events covered briefly as they start on this day, such as the invasions in the West Pacific will be covered in more detail in the coming weeks, especially in episode 120K (the 11th episode this week).coming out on December 12.

The playlist to get all these episodes in one go is here: https://bit.ly/Pearl-min-by-min

Churchill and the Bengal Famine of 1943

Filed under: Books, Britain, History, India, Military, WW2 — Tags: , — Nicholas @ 03:00

In The Critic, Zareer Masani debunks a recent book’s claim that British PM Winston Churchill was responsible for the Bengal famine during the Second World War:

Prime Minister Winston Churchill greets Canadian PM William Lyon Mackenzie King, 1941.
Photo from Library and Archives Canada (reference number C-047565) via Wikimedia Commons.

A favourite trope of the current Black Lives Madness and its left-liberal white apologists has been the alleged infamy of Britain’s most cherished hero, Winston Churchill, charged with everything from mere racism to actual genocide. The worst accusation is that of deliberately starving four million Bengalis to death in the famine of 1943.

The famine took place at the height of World War Two, with the Japanese already occupying Burma and invading the British Indian province of Bengal, bombing its capital, Calcutta, and patrolling its coast with submarines.

The famine raged for about six months, from the summer of 1943 until the end of that year, and estimates of its victims range from half a million upwards, depending on whether one includes its indirect and long-term effects. Most famine experts agree that famines can be caused by both nature and human agency, but never by any single individual. So how has a 67-year-old British prime minister in poor health, 5,000 miles away, fighting near-annihilation in a world war, come to be charged with causing such a cataclysmic disaster?

The attempt to lay this at Churchill’s door stems from a sensationalist book by a Bengali-American journalist called Madhusree Mukerjee. As its title, Churchill’s Secret War, indicates, it was a largely conspiracist attempt to pin responsibility on distant Churchill for undoubted mistakes on the ground in Bengal.

The actual evidence shows that Churchill believed, based on the information he had been getting, that there was no food supply shortage in Bengal, but a demand problem caused by local mismanagement of the distribution system. Ironically, his view found unexpected support in a 2010 exchange between Mukerjee and the Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen, the world’s foremost expert on famine in India.

Commenting in the New York Times, Sen said of Mukerjee, that “she seems satisfied with little information” and that her data came from only two rice research stations, and those in only two out of 27 districts in Bengal. “The analysis I made,” countered Sen, “using data from all districts … indicated that food availability in 1943 (the famine year) was significantly higher than in 1941 (when there was no famine) … There was indeed a substantial shortfall compared with demand, hugely enhanced in a war economy … but that is quite different from a shortfall of supply compared with supply in previous years … Mukerjee seems to miss this crucial distinction, and in her single-minded … attempt to nail down Churchill, she ends up absolving British imperial policy of confusion and callousness.”

USS Pennsylvania and Pearl Harbor

Filed under: History, Japan, Military, Pacific, USA, WW2 — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 02:00

The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered
Published 22 Apr 2019

USS Pennsylvania was in dry dock when the attack came at Pearl Harbor. The History Guy remembers part of her history that may have been forgotten.

This episode was originally posted December 7, 2017. It has been updated to correct some errors in the original, and new footage of USS Pennsylvania has been added.

This is original content based on research by The History Guy. Images in the Public Domain are carefully selected and provide illustration. As images of actual events are sometimes not available, images of similar objects and events are used for illustration.

All events are portrayed in historical context and for educational purposes. No images or content are primarily intended to shock and disgust. Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Non censuram.

Find The History Guy at:

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TheHistoryGuy

The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered is the place to find short snippets of forgotten history from five to fifteen minutes long. If you like history too, this is the channel for you.

Awesome The History Guy merchandise is available at:
https://teespring.com/stores/the-hist…

Script by THG

#ushistory #thehistoryguy #usspennsylvania

December 6, 2020

Winter is Here! The failure of Barbarossa – WW2 – 119 – December 5, 1941

Filed under: Africa, Europe, Germany, History, Japan, Military, Russia, USA, WW2 — Tags: , , , , , , — Nicholas @ 04:00

World War Two
Published 5 Dec 2020

The Wehrmacht is halted by the Red Army at the gates of Moscow. Not only that, but a Red Army counteroffensive begins pushing the Germans back decisively. The Germans are also beginning to withdraw from their siege of Tobruk in North Africa. Japan, however, is advancing all over the Pacific, sending troop transports into the South China Sea, though it is unclear just whom Japan plans to attack. The Japanese are also — in top secrecy — sending a force of aircraft carriers to soon attack the American Pacific fleet at anchor at Pearl Harbor.

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: Miki Cackowski
Sound design: Marek Kamiński
Map animations: Eastory (https://www.youtube.com/c/eastory)

Colorizations by:
Klimbim – https://www.flickr.com/photos/2215569…
Dememorabilia – https://www.instagram.com/dememorabilia/
Mikołaj Uchman
Jaris Almazani (Artistic Man) – https://www.instagram.com/artistic.man/

Sources:
RIA Novosti #2410
Bundesarchiv
IWM A 10499, A 6784, CH 11140
Visuotinė-lietuvių-enciklopedija
Yad Vashem 5705/34
from the Noun Project: low temperature by The Icon Z, Skull by Muhamad Ulum

Soundtracks from the Epidemic Sound:
Johan Hynynen – “Dark Beginning”
Johannes Bornlof – “Death And Glory 3”
Reynard Seidel – “Deflection”
Johannes Bornlof – “Deviation In Time”
Hakan Eriksson – “Epic Adventure Theme 4”
Johannes Bornlof – “The Inspector 4”
Rannar Sillard – “March Of The Brave 4”
Fabien Tell – “Last Point of Safe Return”
Bonnie Grace – “Imperious”
Max Anson – “Maze Heist”
Gunnar Johnsen – “Not Safe Yet”
Jon Bjork – “Force Matrix”

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

A TimeGhost chronological documentary produced by OnLion Entertainment GmbH.

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.

November 30, 2020

Malayan Emergency 1948-1960

Filed under: Asia, Britain, History, Military — Tags: , , , , — Nicholas @ 04:00

The Cold War
Published 28 Sep 2019

Our series on the history of the Cold War period continues with a documentary on Malayan Emergency of 1948-1960 during which the British empire was challenged by the emerging Malayan Communist Party. These events led to the independence of Malaya.

Consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thecoldwar

November 29, 2020

Winter is here? The Germans can see Moscow – WW2 – 118 – November 28, 1941

Filed under: Africa, Britain, Europe, Germany, History, Italy, Japan, Military, Russia, USA, WW2 — Tags: , , , , , — Nicholas @ 04:00

World War Two
Published 28 Nov 2020

The German advance has pushed within artillery range of Moscow, but can they reach it — and take it — before the Red Army and the murderously cold weather halt them? Meanwhile in North Africa, both Erwin Rommel and Claude Auchinleck make daring and brilliant moves that save the fight for their sides. A mighty Japanese fleet is now secretly heading for Hawaii to make a surprise attack on American territory while the US worries where in Southeast Asia the Japanese are planning to attack.

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: Miki Cackowski
Sound design: Marek Kamiński
Map animations: Eastory (https://www.youtube.com/c/eastory)

Colorizations by:
Julius Jääskeläinen – https://www.facebook.com/JJcolorization/
Daniel Weiss
Norman Stewart – https://oldtimesincolor.blogspot.com/
Dememorabilia – https://www.instagram.com/dememorabilia/
Klimbim https://www.flickr.com/photos/2215569…
Mikołaj Uchman
Spartacus Olsson

Sources:
Bundesarchiv
IWM E 6661, WPN 298, E 446
Bletchley Park Trust
Mil.ru
RIA Novosti #303890, #2551
Yad Vashem 4562/3
Picture of Cordell Hull, courtesy of National Portrait Gallery

Soundtracks from the Epidemic Sound:
Rannar Sillard – “March Of The Brave 10”
Johan Hynynen – “Dark Beginning”
Hakan Eriksson – “Epic Adventure Theme 3”
Johannes Bornlof – “Death And Glory 2”
Jo Wandrini – “To War!”
Fabien Tell – “Weapon of Choice”
Fabien Tell – “Last Point of Safe Return”
Johannes Bornlof – “The Inspector 4”
Andreas Jamsheree – “Guilty Shadows 4”
Philip Ayers – “Trapped in a Maze”

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

A TimeGhost chronological documentary produced by OnLion Entertainment GmbH.

From the comments:

World War Two
2 days ago (edited)
– IMPORTANT NOTICE –
Since we’re all busy working on our minute-by-minute coverage of Pearl Harbor, which is edging ever closer, it has been an especially challenging task to follow Operation Crusader in all its complexity. This has resulted in an error on the animated map about which we want to be transparent and honest.

The current map suggests that the 2nd New Zealand Division links up with the Tobruk garrison from the south-east. In reality, it does so from the Via Balba running along the coast, along which it has advanced during the past days. Another thing to note is the position of the Allied 30th Corps, which has withdrawn further south after the Battle of Sidi Rezegh than the map shows. They are positioned near Gabr Saleh as the New Zealanders link up with Tobruk.

We apologize for this inaccuracy and are working to fix this error as soon as possible.

———-

It’s getting closer … 9 days from now is December 7th, and we will cover the Japanese attacks of that day right here in real time for FIVE HOURS. Pearl Harbor minute by minute will be the most exciting documentary series you’ve ever seen. https://youtu.be/5D8c7YvLBUc

And in addition to our weekly coverage of the war right here, we also do daily coverage of it over on our instagram. Check that out at: https://www.instagram.com/world_war_two_realtime/

November 27, 2020

Japanese Plague Bombs – War Against Humanity 023 – November 1941, Pt. 2

Filed under: China, Germany, History, Japan, Military, WW2 — Tags: , , , , — Nicholas @ 06:00

World War Two
Published 26 Nov 2020

Japanse deploys biological weapons in China, leading to un unspecified number of deaths. Meanwhile, European Jews from Germany and their occupied territories are deported to Eastern Europe, where Jews are already being killed by the thousands.

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

Hosted by: Spartacus Olsson
Written by: Joram Appel and Spartacus Olsson
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: Joram Appel and Spartacus Olsson
Edited by: Miki Cackowski
Sound design: Marek Kamiński
Map animations: Eastory (https://www.youtube.com/c/eastory)

Colorizations by:
Mikołaj Uchman
Spartacus Olsson
Jaris Almazani (Artistic Man), https://instagram.com/artistic.man?ig…

Sources:
Bundesarchiv
Visuotinė-lietuvių-enciklopedija
Yad Vashem 2725/5, 4613/360, 85DO1, 142BO7, 4613/1055, 4147/32, 8747/3, 4360/99, 4613/525, 4572/3, 4572/2, 4572/4
USHMM
Picture of Jezdimir Dangic, courtesy of pogledi.rs
from the Noun Project: Skull by Muhamad Ulum

Soundtracks from the Epidemic Sound:
Farrell Wooten – “Blunt Object”
Yi Nantiro – “A Single Grain Of Rice”
Philip Ayers – “Trapped in a Maze”
Gavin Luke – “Drifting Emotions 3”
Gunnar Johnsen – “Not Safe Yet”
Cobby Costa – “From the Past”

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

A TimeGhost chronological documentary produced by OnLion Entertainment GmbH.

From the comments:

World War Two
3 hours ago
We often get the question how we cope with researching, editing and hosting a series which is almost exclusively about human suffering. Indeed, for every episode that we make, Miki, Spartacus and I spend hours researching, reading accounts and scrolling through gruesome pictures. It is hard or stressful at times, and of course it impacts us emotionally.

There’s a couple of things that help us get through this. The purpose with which we’re doing this, which is to learn, share and contribute to awareness so that this may never be forgotten definitely adds to our resilience. We have set up a small-scale support system between us, and we try to talk and share our emotions whenever we need to.

We recognise that some of you watching this may deal with similar questions. Talking about it, wether digitally or in person, helps us understand and process. We believe that exploring the motivations and fears of perpetrators and victims also helps to stay in touch with the human dimension behind staggering statistics. We try our best to keep this series down to earth with a close eye on the humane aspect – both in content and our community.

Thank you all for your support and kind comments,
Cheers,
Joram

Horse Lords: A Brief History of the Scythians

Filed under: Asia, Greece, History, Russia — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 02:00

History Time
Published 30 Jan 2018

This video is about the Scythians. One of the first horse cultures on Earth.

Are you a budding artist, illustrator, cartographer, or music producer? Send me a message! No matter how professional you are or even if you’re just starting out, I can always use new music and images in my videos. Get in touch! I’d love to hear from you.

If you liked this video and have a spare dollar you can help support the channel here:-
http://www.patreon.com/historytimeUK

I’ve compiled a reading list of my favourite history books via the Amazon influencer program. If you do choose to purchase any of these incredible sources of information then Amazon will send me a tiny fraction of the earnings (as long as you do it through the link) (this means more and better content in the future) I’ll keep adding to and updating the list as time goes on:-
https://www.amazon.com/shop/historytime

Music used:-
Ross Bugden – “Parallel”, “Last Dawn”, “Titans”, “Olympus”

I try to use copyright free images at all times. However if I have used any of your artwork or maps then please don’t hesitate to contact me and I’ll be more than happy to give the appropriate credit.

—Join the History Time community on social media:-
Instagram:-
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Twitter:-
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November 25, 2020

The Coolest Gun You Will See All Day: China’s Type 64 Silenced Pistol

Filed under: China, History, Military, Weapons — Tags: , , , , — Nicholas @ 02:00

Forgotten Weapons
Published 14 Aug 2020

http://www.patreon.com/ForgottenWeapons

https://www.floatplane.com/channel/Fo…

Cool Forgotten Weapons merch! http://shop.bbtv.com/collections/forg…

The Type 64 is a dedicated suppressed pistol first introduced in 1965 and used in the Vietnam War. It uses a rimless version of the .32 ACP cartridge (7.65x17mm) in a 9-round Makarov-like magazine. Despite outward similarity to the Makarov (especially the grip), the design is wholly unique internally. It uses basically a miniaturized AK bolt to allow the shooter to select between blowback semiauto functioning and single shot manual operation. The bolt’s rotating locking lugs prevent it from cycling when locked, in a very clever alternative use of the rotating bolt system. The suppressor has two chambers, using a combination of baffles and wire mesh as suppressor elements. In addition to standard ammunition, a plastic-sabot frangible load was also developed for use in situations like airline hijackings, and this loading is why some sources reference a maximum effective range of 15 meters.

For all its technical cleverness, the Type 64 is a rather heavy pistol, at 1.8kg / 4 pounds. It was replaced in 1967 by the substantially lighter and simpler Type 67, which weighed only 1.05kg / 2.3 pounds. This particular Type 64 was originally owned by Mitch Werbell III, giving it an even more interesting history …

Contact:
Forgotten Weapons
6281 N. Oracle #36270
Tucson, AZ 85740

November 24, 2020

The History of Fabric Is the History of Civilization

Filed under: Americas, Books, Economics, Europe, History, India — Tags: , , , , — Nicholas @ 04:00

ReasonTV
Published 23 Nov 2020

Virginia Postrel’s new book explores economics, politics, and technology through textiles.

——————
Full text and links: https://reason.com/video/2020/11/23/t…

Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/reason

Reason is the planet’s leading source of news, politics, and culture from a libertarian perspective. Go to reason.com for a point of view you won’t get from legacy media and old left-right opinion magazines.
—————-

The Fabric of Civilization: How Textiles Made the World, a new book by former Reason editor in chief Virginia Postrel, is a rich, endlessly fascinating history of the remarkable luck, invention, and innovation that made our fabric-rich world possible.

The book aims to make the mundane miraculous. Consider cotton. Most of the cotton we grow today is descended in part from a plant species that evolved in Africa and somehow got over to what is now Peru, where it mixed with New World strains.

“The fact that we have cotton at all, that it exists anywhere, is amazing,” says Postrel. “It happened long before there were human beings, but much more recently than when the continents were together. So we don’t know. It could have gotten caught up in a hurricane. It could have floated on a piece of pumice. So it’s this random, very unlikely happening that had tremendous world-changing consequences.”

The story of textiles is rife with attempts at protectionism and prohibition. In 17th and 18th century Europe, countries banned the importation of super-soft, super-colorful cotton prints from India known as calicos because they threatened domestic producers of everything from lower-quality cotton fabric to luxury silks. “For 73 years, France treated calico the way the U.S. treats cocaine,” Postrel says. “There was this huge amount of smuggling, and they were constantly ratcheting up the penalties [so] that they got quite grotesque, at least for the major traffic.” Some of “the earliest writings of classical liberalism are in this context, people saying not only is this not working, but … it is unjust to be sentencing people to the galleys in order to protect silk makers’ profits.”

Postrel also documents how the Luddites, the 19th century English textile workers famous for smashing the power looms threatening to put them out of work, owed their jobs to an earlier technological breakthrough: the spinning machines that emerged in the late 1700s.

“If you go back to that earlier period, when spinning machines were introduced, the same thing happened,” she says. “They had their own period of rebelling against the new technologies and saying they’re putting people out of work.”

The book also upends some contemporary myths, such as the claim that commercial production of hemp for clothing was a casualty of the war on drugs. “Hemp historically was a very coarse kind of fabric for poor people who didn’t have an alternative,” says Postrel. “It was replaced by cotton for good reasons. Cotton was also affordable, but it was soft and washable and just a much better fabric.”

“Human beings live in history and we inherit the legacies, positive and negative, of that history,” says Postrel, whose previous books include The Power of Glamour, The Substance of Style, and The Future and Its Enemies. Discussing the large themes of her work she says, “All you can do is start from where you are and try to do better from where you are.”

Narrated by Nick Gillespie. Edited by Isaac Reese.

Music: “Thoughts,” by ANBR

Photos: World History Archive/Newscom; The Print Collector Heritage Images/Newsroom; The “Réale” returning to port, Med/CC BY-SA 3.0; Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture/CC0; Battle of Grand Port, Rama/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 2.0 FR; Fine Art Images Heritage Images/Newscom; Seton, M., Müller, R., Zahirovic, S., Gaina, C., Torsvik, T., Shephard, G., Talsma, A., Gurnis, M., Turner, M., Maus, S., and Chandler, M., 2012, Global continental and ocean basin reconstructions since 200 Ma: Earth-Science Reviews, v. 113, no. 3-4, p. 212-270

November 22, 2020

Surprise Attack On Rommel! – Operation Crusader Begins – WW2 – 117- November 21, 1941

Filed under: Africa, Britain, Europe, Germany, History, Italy, Japan, Military, Russia, USA, WW2 — Tags: , , , , , — Nicholas @ 06:00

World War Two
Published 21 Nov 2020

The long planned Allied Offensive in North Africa — Operation Crusader — begins, but the Allies are worrying about how to defend Singapore in case of Japanese aggression. The Germans renew their drive on Moscow, but their number one flying ace perishes, a major PR hit.

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From the comments:

World War Two
3 days ago
On December 7th we will cover the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in real time, minute by minute, as it happens … for five solid hours starting 0610 local Hawaiian time right here on this channel. Don’t miss it!

And if you want a dose of WW2 action every day, then check out our day by day instagram coverage of the war right here: https://www.instagram.com/world_war_two_realtime/

November 19, 2020

Japanese Type 10 Light Grenade Projector (aka Knee Mortar)

Filed under: History, Japan, Military, Weapons, WW2 — Tags: , , — Nicholas @ 02:00

Forgotten Weapons
Published 24 Mar 2018

In the aftermath of World War One, the Japanese military saw the utility of infantry-portable light grenade launchers instead of rifle grenades, and adopted the Type 10 in 1921 (Taisho 10). It went into production in 1923 at the Tokyo Army Arsenal, although the great Tokyo earthquake led to production being moved to Nagoya, where about 11,000 were made between 1925 and 1937. The Type 10 was a remarkably light and handy weapon, weighing just 5.5lb (2.5kg) and disassembling into a transport configuration the size of a wine bottle.

The larger Type 89 grenade launcher was adopted in 1929, which led to the older Type 10s being relegated to use for illumination and signaling, which they did through the end of World War Two.

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I posted Ian’s review of the Type 89 here.

November 16, 2020

QotD: India’s civil service

Filed under: Bureaucracy, Government, India, Quotations — Tags: , — Nicholas @ 01:00

The process was started in October last year. Here we are at the end of August 10 months later. And we’ve still managed to get no closer at all to hiring any accountants.

Now, one good thing about the Indian civil service is that it carries on the old British practice of entry being by competitive examination. This at least loosens the possibility of influence and bribery determining who gets hired. But now think of the incompetence with which the process is being carried out. We’ve at least 7 months here just to mark the exam papers!

And that is really what ails India. The snail’s pace of the bureaucracy. It would actually be far better if the place had near no government rather than the one it has. Anarchy is indeed preferable to a system which allows near nothing to happen officially. Because what happens when a bureaucracy is so slow that it strangles the ability to do anything legally is that it is all done in illegal anarchy anyway. Some 85% of the Indian economy is over in the unregistered, untaxed and informal sector. Precisely and exactly because the official sector is run by that bureaucracy that cannot even hire the occasional accountant. A bonfire of the babus would improve the place immeasurably.

Tim Worstall, “What’s Wrong In India – All 8,000 Fail Goa’s Exam To Be Government Accountants”, Continental Telegraph, 2018-08-23.

November 9, 2020

QotD: The Children of Men becomes disturbingly real in Japan

Filed under: Books, Japan, Quotations — Tags: , , , , , — Nicholas @ 01:00

To western eyes, contemporary Japan has a kind of earnest childlike wackiness, all karaoke machines and manga cartoons and nuttily sadistic game shows. But, to us demography bores, it’s a sad place that seems to be turning into a theme park of P.D. James’ great dystopian novel The Children Of Men. Baroness James’ tale is set in Britain in the near future, in a world that is infertile: The last newborn babe emerged from the womb in 1995, and since then nothing. It was an unusual subject for the queen of the police procedural, and, indeed, she is the first baroness to write a book about barrenness. The Hollywood director Alfonso Cuarón took the broad theme and made a rather ordinary little film out of it. But the Japanese seem determined to live up to the book’s every telling detail.

In Lady James’ speculative fiction, pets are doted on as child-substitutes, and churches hold christening ceremonies for cats. In contemporary Japanese reality, Tokyo has some 40 “cat cafés” where lonely solitary citizens can while away an afternoon by renting a feline to touch and pet for a couple of companiable hours.

In Lady James’ speculative fiction, all the unneeded toys are burned, except for the dolls, which childless women seize on as the nearest thing to a baby and wheel through the streets. In contemporary Japanese reality, toy makers, their children’s market dwindling, have instead developed dolls for seniors to be the grandchildren they’ll never have: You can dress them up, and put them in a baby carriage, and the computer chip in the back has several dozen phrases of the kind a real grandchild might use to enable them to engage in rudimentary social pleasantries.

P.D. James’ most audacious fancy is that in a barren land sex itself becomes a bit of a chore. The authorities frantically sponsor state porn emporia promoting ever more recherché forms of erotic activity in an effort to reverse the populace’s flagging sexual desire just in case man’s seed should recover its potency. Alas, to no avail. As Lady James writes, “Women complain increasingly of what they describe as painful orgasms: the spasm achieved but not the pleasure. Pages are devoted to this common phenomenon in the women’s magazines.”

As I said, a bold conceit, at least to those who believe that shorn of all those boring procreation hang-ups we can finally be free to indulge our sexual appetites to the full. But it seems the Japanese have embraced the no-sex-please-we’re-dystopian-Brits plot angle, too. In October, Abigail Haworth of The Observer in London filed a story headlined “Why Have Young People in Japan Stopped Having Sex?” Not all young people but a whopping percentage: A survey by the Japan Family Planning Association reported that over a quarter of men aged 16–24 “were not interested in or despised sexual contact.” For women, it was 45 per cent.

Mark Steyn, The [Un]documented Mark Steyn, 2014.

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