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billvon

Goodbye Enola Gay

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The Enola Gay was the B-29 bomber that dropped the first nuclear weapon during wartime.  It was named after Enola Gay Tibbets, the mother of the pilot, Colonel Paul Tibbets.   Tibbets said he chose the name because, as he was thinking about it, "my thoughts turned at this point to my courageous red-haired mother, whose quiet confidence had been a source of strength to me since boyhood, and particularly during the soul-searching period when I decided to give up a medical career to become a military pilot. At a time when Dad had thought I had lost my marbles, she had taken my side and said, 'I know you will be all right, son.' "

It was a historic mission that stretched the limits of the aircraft - and there was no good data to show that the aircraft would even survive the event, since there had not yet been an airdrop test performed on a nuclear weapon.  But they took the chance.  It worked and they survived.

The US then made a second bombing run over Nagasaki and dropped a second nuclear weapon.  This brought the Pacific war to a close, as Japan quickly surrendered.

The aircraft itself was left outside for a while and was vandalized.  Feelings ran strong over it.  Some saw it as a sign of American power and victory.  Others saw it as a tool of mass murder.  The head of the National Air and Space museum resigned over the controversy at one point.   

Finally it was fully restored and now is on display in the Virginia annex of the Air and Space Museum.

And yesterday, Trump banned any pictures of the plane within the US Military because it's "gay."

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2 hours ago, billvon said:

The Enola Gay was the B-29 bomber that dropped the first nuclear weapon during wartime.  It was named after Enola Gay Tibbets, the mother of the pilot, Colonel Paul Tibbets.   Tibbets said he chose the name because, as he was thinking about it, "my thoughts turned at this point to my courageous red-haired mother, whose quiet confidence had been a source of strength to me since boyhood, and particularly during the soul-searching period when I decided to give up a medical career to become a military pilot. At a time when Dad had thought I had lost my marbles, she had taken my side and said, 'I know you will be all right, son.' "

It was a historic mission that stretched the limits of the aircraft - and there was no good data to show that the aircraft would even survive the event, since there had not yet been an airdrop test performed on a nuclear weapon.  But they took the chance.  It worked and they survived.

The US then made a second bombing run over Nagasaki and dropped a second nuclear weapon.  This brought the Pacific war to a close, as Japan quickly surrendered.

The aircraft itself was left outside for a while and was vandalized.  Feelings ran strong over it.  Some saw it as a sign of American power and victory.  Others saw it as a tool of mass murder.  The head of the National Air and Space museum resigned over the controversy at one point.   

Finally it was fully restored and now is on display in the Virginia annex of the Air and Space Museum.

And yesterday, Trump banned any pictures of the plane within the US Military because it's "gay."

Hi Bill,

He has also banned any reference in the military to gay.  Including some heroes who had the last name of Gay.

Talk about short-sighted.

Jerry Baumchen

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2 hours ago, billvon said:

The Enola Gay was the B-29 bomber that dropped the first nuclear weapon during wartime.  It was named after Enola Gay Tibbets, the mother of the pilot, Colonel Paul Tibbets.   Tibbets said he chose the name because, as he was thinking about it, "my thoughts turned at this point to my courageous red-haired mother, whose quiet confidence had been a source of strength to me since boyhood, and particularly during the soul-searching period when I decided to give up a medical career to become a military pilot. At a time when Dad had thought I had lost my marbles, she had taken my side and said, 'I know you will be all right, son.' "

It was a historic mission that stretched the limits of the aircraft - and there was no good data to show that the aircraft would even survive the event, since there had not yet been an airdrop test performed on a nuclear weapon.  But they took the chance.  It worked and they survived.

The US then made a second bombing run over Nagasaki and dropped a second nuclear weapon.  This brought the Pacific war to a close, as Japan quickly surrendered.

The aircraft itself was left outside for a while and was vandalized.  Feelings ran strong over it.  Some saw it as a sign of American power and victory.  Others saw it as a tool of mass murder.  The head of the National Air and Space museum resigned over the controversy at one point.   

Finally it was fully restored and now is on display in the Virginia annex of the Air and Space Museum.

And yesterday, Trump banned any pictures of the plane within the US Military because it's "gay."

Such a pathetic weakling.

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3 minutes ago, normiss said:

Such a pathetic weakling.

Hi Mark,

This is what I have difficulty with.

To me, Trump is like the school-yard bully; in reality, just a coward.

It is so obvious.

I suppose once one puts his head in the sand, it becomes difficult to see the truth.

Jerry Baumchen

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4 minutes ago, JerryBaumchen said:

Hi John,

And more:  26,000 images flagged for removal in Pentagon's DEI purge : NPR

Jerry Baumchen

PS)  Any veterans who still support Trump?

 

I suspect most of the Christian Veterans, like Hegseth, are still on board. Why not? They never believed that Democracy was the solution and Trump is just speeding things along.

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4 hours ago, kallend said:

I've seen some bizarre theories from right wingers about this - how it's (a) not true at all, and (b) all a conspiracy by "libtard moles" to make Trump and Hegseth look bad.

Hi John,

IMO they do not need any assistance in looking bad.

One only has to spend a very small amount of time thinking.

In there, lies the problem.

Jerry Baumchen

 

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(edited)

Maybe they should use her married name - Tibbets.

I think the goal of the ill- considered exercise is to purge the lexicon of toxic buzzwords.  The unfortunate reality is that the use of some verbiage is symptomatic of much deeper pathology.

For example, anyone who truly thinks in terms of "assigned <sex> at birth" is FUBAR.  Follow up euphemisms like "gender affirming care" are equally indicative of mental illness.

Thus, denying one set of buzzwords tends to result in a new generation of equally bad verbiage.  In the long run, it's about as effective as telling someone in a laughing academy "stop being crazy!"

Edited by dogyks

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1 hour ago, dogyks said:

Thus, denying one set of buzzwords tends to result in a new generation of equally bad verbiage.  In the long run, it's about as effective as telling someone in a laughing academy "stop being crazy”

When you consider the well-documented fact that placement in a “laughing academy” has been used as a weapon against people with nonconforming views of many kinds (including whom they were supposed to marry), I think it’s a pretty apt analogy for determining what truth is.

And as long as gender has both social and biological components, and some of the biological components can be murky, it’s pretty clear that you, and the current administration, are trying to impose a viewpoint that doesn’t reflect what some people are seeing.

But I guess you’re happy with people being shoehorned into roles that match what you think is appropriate. Which year of women’s rights do you support? How about minority rights? After all, the “gold standard” for those has most emphatically evolved over time. Generally with the sacrifice, whether intellectual, social, reputational, or literal, of many competent women and minorities

Wendy P. 

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13 minutes ago, wmw999 said:

When you consider the well-documented fact that placement in a “laughing academy” has been used as a weapon against people with nonconforming views of many kinds (including whom they were supposed to marry), I think it’s a pretty apt analogy for determining what truth is.

And as long as gender has both social and biological components, and some of the biological components can be murky, it’s pretty clear that you, and the current administration, are trying to impose a viewpoint that doesn’t reflect what some people are seeing.

But I guess you’re happy with people being shoehorned into roles that match what you think is appropriate. Which year of women’s rights do you support? How about minority rights? After all, the “gold standard” for those has most emphatically evolved over time. Generally with the sacrifice, whether intellectual, social, reputational, or literal, of many competent women and minorities

Wendy P. 

As usual, we're talking past each other - which validates my case regarding differing sets of definitions.

Sex is biological and gender is grammatical.  A quick genetic check can verify biological sex. There are three genders, der, die oder das.

Anyone that thinks feelings have anything to do with objective reality is delusional.  If someone wants to go through life as a Labrador Retriever, that's their business, but they're ill advised to seek veterinary care.

As far as fixating on minority or somehow oppressed status goes, it's a self perpetuating process. Has it ever dawned on you that the solution to discrimination is equality?

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45 minutes ago, dogyks said:

As far as fixating on minority or somehow oppressed status goes, it's a self perpetuating process. Has it ever dawned on you that the solution to discrimination is equality?

Why yes. Has it ever occurred to you that people's feelings impact their compliance with actual equality? 

Actual quotes:

"The law says I have to interview them, but it sure doesn't say I have to hire them." Yeah, that's an equal opportunity

"I can't hire you because It'd affect the camaraderie while folding newspapers." 

"Competent white men must be in charge if you want things to work. Unfortunately, our entire national ideology is predicated on coddling the feelings of women and minorities, and demoralizing competent white men."

So if there's a perception, widely held, that men and white people are generally more likely to be competent, does that actually mean they're more competent? I rather doubt it.

Wendy P.

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51 minutes ago, dogyks said:

Sex is biological and gender is grammatical.  A quick genetic check can verify biological sex. There are three genders, der, die oder das.

So I'm assuming that "oder das" is everyone who has an actual physical condition that indicates that gender isn't exactly binary across every.single.human. Can you clarify? And does one therefore just ram them into the social categories?

Wendy P.

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Just now, wmw999 said:

Why yes. Has it ever occurred to you that people's feelings impact their compliance with actual equality? 

Actual quotes:

"The law says I have to interview them, but it sure doesn't say I have to hire them." Yeah, that's an equal opportunity

"I can't hire you because It'd affect the camaraderie while folding newspapers." 

"Competent white men must be in charge if you want things to work. Unfortunately, our entire national ideology is predicated on coddling the feelings of women and minorities, and demoralizing competent white men."

So if there's a perception, widely held, that men and white people are generally more likely to be competent, does that actually mean they're more competent? I rather doubt it.

Wendy P.

Okay, who am I to dispute your victimhood?  Since it appears to be pivotal to your identity, it's all yours.

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(edited)
4 minutes ago, wmw999 said:

So I'm assuming that "oder das" is everyone who has an actual physical condition that indicates that gender isn't exactly binary across every.single.human. Can you clarify? And does one therefore just ram them into the social categories?

Wendy P.

Not that complicated, it's a grammatical construct.  Any verb made into a noun ending in "ung" ist weiblich (feminine). Your basic Volkswagen is "das Auto."

Don't read too much into it.

Edited by dogyks

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5 hours ago, dogyks said:

Thus, denying one set of buzzwords  . . . .

 . . . is Newspeak; an attempt to ban words to prevent people from thinking thoughts that are not government approved.

Why be afraid of ideas, unless those ideas threaten you?  I mean, movies regularly show violent murders, and the characters discuss those murders.  Trump himself has talked about murder several times, including bragging that he could murder someone and not lose any supporters.  Why is discussing murder OK, but discussing women not OK?

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7 hours ago, dogyks said:

Sex is biological and gender is grammatical.  A quick genetic check can verify biological sex.

OK.  So you have a daughter.  Usual girl parts.  She's on a swim team.  At age 14 you discover she is XY.  What sex is she?  What gender is she?

Should be a simple question.

Quote

Has it ever dawned on you that the solution to discrimination is equality?

Welcome to the wonderful world of DEI!

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59 minutes ago, billvon said:

OK.  So you have a daughter.  Usual girl parts.  She's on a swim team.  At age 14 you discover she is XY.  What sex is she?  What gender is she?

Should be a simple question.\

Welcome to the wonderful world of DEI!

Some animals LIKE being more equal than others.

Wendy P.

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